Reflective Blog

The focus of my MUS 664 service-learning project is to create helpful resources for older adults who are experiencing isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. For my service-learning proposal, the list of possible community partners I made included a variety of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities near my hometown in western Kentucky. While the resources I create will be distinct from music therapy, I thought it would be useful to partner with a facility in western Kentucky so that older adults living in an area with less access to music therapy would have an opportunity to use music to promote psychosocial well-being. 

Ultimately, I partnered with a residential facility for older adults in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I got to interview the facility’s therapy director over the phone in order to learn more about the needs of the residents. The target audience I had in mind prior to the interview was residents experiencing isolation during the pandemic. Helping to alleviate isolation and promote engagement is important to my community because isolation has negative implications for psychosocial, cognitive, and physical health. The pandemic is a vulnerable time for many. Psychosocially, this may be a particularly vulnerable time for older adults whose loved ones are unable to visit them due to safety precautions.

I first asked the therapy director what the residents’ greatest need was at this time. The therapy director informed me that the residents severely miss human interaction. While in-person visits are suspended, residents are able to visit with loved ones through their window, via FaceTime, or calls through a facility cell phone. 

In order to gain a more specific idea on who my target audience within the facility would be, I inquired about which residents could most benefit from additional resources right now. The therapy director told me that the unit who could most benefit would be where 28 residents who have Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or maladaptive behaviors live. Many residents living on this unit have been losing weight because they are less likely to stay seated during meals at this time due to wandering, agitation, or anxiety. Additionally, the majority of the activities at the facility prior to the pandemic involved food. The therapy director and I discussed how residents in earlier stages of dementia may benefit from reminiscence interventions targeting memory, cognition, and orientation, while residents in later stages of dementia may be more likely to benefit from validation. 

I learned that currently the residents are able to visit the therapy gym in groups of up to three people with cleaning in between groups. In the therapy gym, residents on the caseload for physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy receive services. Occupational therapists (OTs) use the room the most frequently. Common goals the residents address with OTs include sensory integration, relaxation, decreasing maladaptive behaviors, and increasing engagement in activities of daily living. Other activities available in the therapy gym include aromatherapy, sensory therapy, sensory music, and rocking in a rocking chair, supervised in case of fall risk. Another activity available outside the therapy gym is Bingo, which many residents play in their rooms as staff lead the game from the hallway. 

Next, I inquired about music activities at the facility. At this time, residents listen to music from a boombox that the activities team brings around the facility on a cart. The facility’s regular music activities are currently suspended. Prior to the pandemic, residents participated in a Music in Motion exercise program every day at 10 AM. Another music activity residents engaged in was a weekly singing group led by a local musician. The facility also periodically invited guest musicians to perform or make music with residents. From the interview and previous experience volunteering with a music group at this facility, I learned that commonly preferred genres among the residents include gospel, hymns, country, and R&B. Popular artists include Johnny Cash and Elvis. A favorite song among many residents is “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” by Nancy Sinatra. 

Based on the information I gained from the interview, virtual music activities I am considering are interactive singing videos with closed captioning, a resource to promote alertness and a positive mood state during mealtimes, music-based Bingo cards since many residents enjoy both music listening and Bingo, and videos with prompts for physical movement in order to help address the absence of the Music in Motion program. These activities could support activities the facility is currently offering while promoting active engagement and ideally reducing the sense of isolation. 

A possible way to provide evidence of progress toward meeting these needs could involve ongoing communication with the facility, as the therapy director and activities director have offered to stay in touch throughout the project. I will continue to read related research, base the resources I create on interventions with support from the research literature, and consult with experts as needed.