Sing Out Loud: a Choral Singing Program for Persons Living with Dementia (SOL)

National University of Singapore

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Nursing Homes Residents; Dementia

Treatments: Other: Singing

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06880237

NUS-IRB-2023-164

Details and patient eligibility

About

We intend to investigate whether a singing programme for nursing home residents living with dementia can reduce the mental and physiological effects of dementia. The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Does participating in the Sing Out Loud (SOL) singing intervention lead to an improvement in the physiological well-being (increase in oxytocin and reduction in cortisol levels) of persons living with dementia (PWDs) in nursing homes?
2. Will participation in the SOL singing intervention result in an improvement in PWDs' overall mood, temperament, and mental health (indicated by symptoms such as apathy, aggression, and depression).

Researchers will compare the singing group to the control group to see if they exhibit reduced levels of apathy, aggression, and depression, and whether their levels of oxytocin and cortisol (collected via salivary biomarkers) have increased and decreased, respectively.

Researchers will compare the SOL singing intervention with a waitlist control group to see if the SOL singing intervention increases the feelings of social connection, reduces stress, or improves the symptoms of dementia in nursing home residents.

Participants will be randomly assigned to a singing intervention or waitlist control group. The intervention involves an 8-week long singing programme with one practice session a week, culminating in an additional full dress rehearsal and private showcase performance for their family members at a concert venue.

Enrollment: 56 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21 to 90 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria for Patients:

• Aged 59 to 90 years old
• Diagnosed with dementia
• Living in the nursing home
• Interested in participating in the SOL programme
• Able to provide saliva samples

Exclusion Criteria for Patients:

• Unable to provide saliva samples

Inclusion Criteria for Psychologists:

• Aged 21 to 65 years old
• Is the psychologist of a patient who is participating in the SOL programme
• Is able to speak English

Exclusion Criteria for the Psychologists:

• Unable to complete the NPI-Q questionnaire for their patient who is participating in the SOL programme
• Decline audio recording during the focus group discussion

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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56 participants in 2 patient groups

Singing group

Experimental group

Description:

The intervention for the Singing group will be the 8-week SOL programme.

Treatment:

Other: Singing

Waitlist Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

The Waitlist Control group will not receive any intervention during the course of the study but will receive the SOL programme in its next iteration.