A Community Based Music and Dance Movement Therapy Group for Older Adults With Dementia

A systematic review identified a need to explore the value of an arts therapies group for older adults with dementia living in the community with early to moderate stage dementia. This client population commonly experience depression, social withdrawal and cognitive difficulties and literature suggests a music and dance movement therapy group could potentially make a contribution to both reducing symptoms and improving communication and wellbeing. However, there is still lack of clarity on clinically meaningful outcome measures, detail regarding the therapeutic process and questions remain regarding the trustworthiness of qualitative observations. This mixed method feasibility study aims to test whether the interventions translate to a community setting, provide richer insight into the meaningful aspect of the therapeutic process and provide some preliminary quantitative findings.