Music Therapy and Aging Essay

Music Therapy and Aging

Summary

Grief, pain, and distress can become unbearable for the bereaved although death is an experience that every individual goes through. Many therapeutic interventions have been developed to help the bereaved cope with death including music therapy interventions. These interventions have shown positive impacts on the cognitive and emotional well-being of the bereaved and older adults with terminal conditions or under hospice care. However, the impact of these interventions on the aging process remains unknown and understudied. The proposed study will look at the effect of music therapy interventions on aging, especially on the frailties brought by old age. The scope of the proposed research is to look at the link between music therapy interventions and the quality of life of elderly people without any chronic or terminal conditions.

This study is expected to provide insights on how to cope or deal with frailties of old age that could result in premature death. Additionally, the study is expected to demonstrate the effectiveness of music therapy as an evidence-based intervention that improves the quality of life. To achieve the purpose of the study, a randomized controlled trial with a pretest-posttest research design will be carried out. Using a purposive sampling technique, a group of older adults aged between 65 and 100 years will be included in the research. These participants will be randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The quality of life indicators will be measured at the baseline before and after administering the intervention. Data from the participants will be statistically analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) in SPSS 22.0. The researcher also intends to include peer-reviewed journals on this topic to establish a foundation for the study. The proposed project will help to develop a substantive theory and evidence-based approach to deal with frailties in old age.

Music Therapy and Aging

Death is an experience that every individual goes through. For the bereaved, grief, pain, and distress associated with death can become unbearable. As a result, therapeutic interventions are used to help during grief and bereavement. Music therapy interventions are among the most commonly used interventions to help the bereaved cope with losing a loved one. According to Ray & Gotell, such interventions are used because they have shown positive effects on well-being (p.1). However, existing studies focus on evaluating the impact of music therapy approaches on terminally ill patients or those under hospice care. There is a gap in the existing literature on the effect of these interventions on aging as the aging population continues to increase. The proposed study will look at the impact of music therapy interventions on aging.

General Area of Study

The proposed project will look at the impact of using music…

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…measured at the baseline and after the final session using a questionnaire. The difference in the pretest and posttest data will then be statistically analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. The specific effects of the intervention will be determined using analysis of variance (ANOVA) data analysis approach. The project findings will also be compared to existing literature published in peer-reviewed journals, which will be referenced using the MLA citation style.

Evidence of Learning

The study is expected to demonstrate the widespread applicability of music therapy interventions to non-clinical settings for the aging population. Therefore, the evidence of learning from this proposed project is the identification of music therapy interventions as evidence-based approaches for enhancing the living experiences of elderly people.

Personal and Professional Development

This project will help fulfill my capacity as a self-directed lifelong learner by allowing me to apply concepts learned in the classroom to real-world scenarios. Through this, I will influence the development of a substantive theory and evidence-based approach regarding the role of music therapy interventions in the quality of life of the elderly. The project will help me grow personally and professionally by enabling me to contribute toward addressing a gap in existing literature and identification of an evidence-based intervention for frail older adults.

Works Cited

Cho, Heeyoun K. “The Effects of Music Therapy-Singing Group on Quality of Life…