Annotated Bibliography

Franck, L., Molyneux, N., & Parkinson, L. (2015). Systematic review of interventions addressing social isolation and depression in aged care clients. Quality of Life Research, 25(6), 1395–1407. doi:10.1007/s11136-015-1197-y

Franck and colleagues aim to identify interventions with promise for decreasing social isolation and depression in older adults living in residential facilities, primarily in rural areas. The researchers focused on social isolation and depression because of their prevalence, comorbidity, and risks to health outcomes. The authors conducted a systematic review, ultimately including six articles in a qualitative synthesis. While the initial aim of the study was to identify interventions for use in rural areas, the six studies included in the synthesis took place in urban areas. The authors identified five distinct interventions: reminiscence therapy, gender-based social clubs, playing Nintendo Wii, an indoor gardening program, and a radio program. Reminiscence therapy was the only intervention that reduced both social isolation and depression. Gender-based social clubs decreased depression among male participants but had no significant effect for female participants. Playing Nintendo Wii and participating in an indoor gardening program both reduced social isolation, while listening to a radio program decreased depression without demonstrating a significant effect on social isolation. This article can inform the resources I create for my service-learning project by increasing my awareness of interventions to effectively target social isolation. For example, based on this research, I can design a reminiscence-based resource as one component of my project. I can refer to the studies referenced in this article to inform how I design this resource. I may also aim to reduce older adults’ symptoms of depression by incorporating aspects of a radio program into my project.

Murphy, K., Liu, W. W., Goltz, D., Fixsen, E., Kirchner, S., Hu, J., & White, H. (2018). Implementation of personalized music listening for assisted living residents with dementia. Geriatric Nursing, 39(5), 560-565. doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2018.04.001 

Murphy and colleagues discuss the use of personalized music listening (PML) as a meaningful intervention for improving mood and quality of life, and reducing anxiety and agitation among assisted living residents diagnosed with dementia per chart review. The researchers implemented the PML program using the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance) framework. The PML program involved distributing iPod shuffles with preloaded playlists that facility staff and volunteers altered according to resident responses to music. Medication technicians distributed music at least twice per week for a minimum of 30 minutes at a time. The researchers monitored the outcomes of PML for 17 residents over eight months. According to staff report, residents demonstrated improved mood in 62% of PML sessions, no change in mood in 34%, and worsened mood in 4%. Qualitatively, staff reported increases in emotional expression and goal-directed activity. This research is relevant to my service-learning project as it illustrates a process for providing a beneficial music listening experience separate from music therapy for older adults with dementia. I might use this article to inform my project by designing playlists featuring different genres in order to provide an element of personalization in music listening for the residents who access my project.

Kaufmann, C. N., Montross-Thomas, L. P., & Griser, S. (2018). Increased engagement with life: Differences in the cognitive, physical, social, and spiritual activities of older adult music listeners. The Gerontologist, 58(2), 270–277. doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnw192 

Based on data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the authors investigated relationships among health, music listening, and active engagement among older adults in the United States. The average participant age was 65.7 years; more than half of participants were women, and 83.3% of participants were white. Among this sample, the authors found that music listeners spent more hours each week engaged in life activities than non-listeners, according to self-report. Life activities fell under physical health, cognitive, social, spiritual, or life task domains. Compared to non-listeners, music listeners experienced fewer health problems. The data in this article suggest that some participants listened to music while engaging in activities and that music listening may have functioned as a motivator for engagement. This article is relevant to my service-learning project because active engagement is related to quality of life. I can target active engagement by providing preferred music for older adults to engage with as one component of my project. I can use the same activities with different song suggestions to provide multiple genre options.