Rifat Farzan Nipun2, Suchismita Sarkar3, Rubina Oad4, Maliha Tasmeem Chowdhury5, Agafya Krivova2, Tamjida Hanfi6, Shafi Bhuiyan1,2*
1 School of Public Health, University of Memphis, TN, USA
2 University of Toronto Canada
3McGill University, Canada
4 University of Western Ontario, Canada
5Baycrest, Health Sciences, Toronto, Canada
6University of Mahidol, Thailand
*Corresponding author: Shafi Bhuiyan, School of Public Health, University of Memphis, TN USA
Received: September 04, 2024
Accepted: September 07, 2024
Published: September 11, 2024
Citation: Shafi Bhuiyan, Rifat Farzan Nipun, Suchismita Sarkar, Rubina oad and Maliha Tasmeem Chowdhury, etc.. (2024) “Effects of Music and Dance based art interventions on healthy aging: A scoping literature review.”. International Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health Research, 5(2). DOI: 10.61148/2836-2810/IJEPHR/082.
Copyright: © 2024 Shafi Bhuiyan. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
By the year 2050, the aging population (more than 65 years old) in OECD countries is projected to be three folds compared to the 1950s (Ageing, 2020). Healthy aging is a social privilege. The concept of successful aging is beyond treating symptoms, rather it is about incorporating a holistic non-pharmacological approach to improve the wellbeing of older adults. As literature suggests, music and dance are two of the key non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) for improving the quality of life among elderly (Wilson et al., 2019). A scoping review was conducted with the research question: "What empirical evidence exists to support the role of music and dance interventions in promoting healthy aging among individuals aged 65 years and older?" Most prominent outcomes of dance-based interventions were improvement in gait, physical functions, mobility and fall prevention. Music interventions showed cognitive enhancement, and improvement in psychological symptoms like mitigating depression, reduction in anxiety and elevation of mood. A combination of music and dance therapies resulted in enhancement of physical and cognitive function. Future studies should investigate the long-term impact of music and dance-based interventions and explore the effects of other NPIs.
Introduction:
Aging is an irreversible process leading to a gradual and significant decline in physical and mental health. Age related health conditions include diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, and cognitive disorders for example impaired memory and dementia etc. (Guo et al., 2022).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the aging population is expected to grow worldwide by 2030, in both size and proportion. As per this report, it is estimated that one out of every six individuals across the globe will be at or over 60 years of age by 2030. The WHO has raised the concern whether the world is prepared to effectively handle this anticipated increased life expectancy in the coming years (Ageing, 2020). Healthy ageing has been defined by WHO as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age.” They further clarified the concept of functional ability as “ having the capabilities that enable all people to be and do what they have reason to value” (WHO 2020, healthy ageing and functional ability).
The UN decade of health aging is a 2020 resolution whereby the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) member states agreed on a 10-year (2021-2030) action plan to take initiatives to improve healthy aging (Thiyagarajan et al., 2022). Nowadays, the focus of Geriatric Medicine is inclined more towards innovating research interventions to promote healthy aging. Previously, pharmacological strategies have been widely implemented to improve the quality of life in older adults (Guo et al., 2022). However, in alignment with the UN decade of healthy ageing declaration, an upward trend has been noticed towards integrating non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) to improve the quality of life in elderly (Wilson et al., 2019)
NPIs are science-based and non-invasive interventions with an impact on health, quality of life, behavioural and socioeconomic markers (Castellano-Tejedor, 2022). These cover a diverse and broad range of intervention categories, including cognitive training, physical exercise, dietary treatments, art-oriented therapy, and reminiscence therapy. Over the past few years, there has been growing suggestion to involve arts as a non-pharmacologic intervention for preventing cognitive decline and improving the well-being and overall quality of life in the elderly individuals (Fioranelli et al., 2023). As per a World Health Organization (WHO) report from 2019, engaging in art activities provides an extensive array of health benefits, spanning from preventing mental and physical health risk factors, to managing various health conditions including cancer, dementia, schizophrenia, anxiety and depression. (Fancourt & Finn, 2019).
The act of engaging in the arts activities can have profound effects on the elderly including those with mental illness (Galassi et al., 2022). Every individual component of arts activities has the potential to trigger psychological, physiological, social, and behavioral reactions that are inter-linked with health outcomes. For instance, the aesthetic and emotional elements of arts engagements provide a chance for expression and regulation of emotions, and stress reduction (Fancourt & Finn, 2019). Additionally, social interaction through art engagement can serve as a significant means to mitigate loneliness, discrimination, and other risk factors related to increasing mental health issues in elderly population (Galassi et al., 2022).
According to a study conducted at a residential care complex in British Columbia, arts engagement activities increased a sense of belonging and decreased the sense of isolation in elderly patients (Rodrigues et al., 2018). Among art-based interventions, music and dance based interventions are particularly prevalent as more socially connected and culturally relevant activities to shape and control cognitive, emotional, and manifested behaviour. Subsequently, research on the use of music and dance as a NPI for promoting healthy aging among elderly has gained popularity in recent years (Bracco 2023; Castillejos 2021; Davis et al., 2000)
Hence, for our study, we did a scoping review with the research inquiry: "What empirical evidence exists to elucidate the supportive role of music and dance interventions in promoting healthy aging among individuals aged 65 years and older from 2017 onwards?" We investigated all the evidence generated over the last 7 years in terms of experimental and intervention-based studies in various settings including nursing homes, long-term care homes, care centres, and communities. In this study, we refrained from including the articles with the study population based in hospital settings, as the outcome generated in these studies may be confounded by other factors apart from the primary intervention of music and dance. We acknowledge the impact of music and dance interventions in these settings, however, including these articles was beyond the scope of our study.
Methodology:
Scoping reviews are mainly focused on identifying the gaps in the existing literature and building up on what has already been published in the domain. Arksey & O’Malley’s five-stage framework for conducting a scoping review served as the guide for this review, where we summarized the main, overarching outcomes and identified the gaps in the existing literature (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005).
The authors piloted the search criteria with three key phrases, “older adults”, “art interventions”, and “healthy ageing” and aggregated the data from three prominent scholarly databases: MedLine, Science Direct, and Scopus. After a meticulous examination and the necessary elimination of duplicate entries, an initial collection of 929 relevant articles was acquired. The initial phases of data collection and subsequent extraction procedures were precisely executed using the software tool COVIDENCE.
Moving beyond this piloting phase, a more refined inclusion and exclusion criteria was applied in the later screening processes. This refinement aimed to improve the precision of the study by explicitly defining the categories of arts-based interventions under investigation. The focus of the articles was narrowed down to include only the domains of music and dance-based art interventions, aligning with the specific scope of this article. Consequently, this screening strategy resulted in the exclusion of an additional 499 studies, ultimately leading to the inclusion of 430 distinct articles for further analysis. It is essential to acknowledge that, in line with the inherent characteristics of scoping reviews, there are no predefined study designs or strict criteria for the inclusion or exclusion of studies (MacRitchie et al., 2023). Therefore, a collaborative decision endorsed by all contributing authors was taken to further refine the search strategy, with the aim of creating a more cohesive and coherent publication.
To achieve this goal, during the comprehensive assessment of full-text articles, additional selective exclusions were applied, notably narrowing the inclusion criteria to encompass only original research studies while excluding protocols, letters to editors, scoping reviews, and systematic reviews, among others (Table 1). Furthermore, a temporal constraint was imposed, limiting the analysis to publications from the last 7 years. The final number of articles included in the study was 24 (see Figure 1).
Quantitative analysis was conducted on the data extracted from the 24 selected articles, considering research study, participant, and intervention characteristics. Qualitative analysis was performed by thematic analysis of the outcome characteristics of the studies and tabulated and the findings were categorized into broad themes.
|
Inclusion Criteria |
Exclusion Criteria |
|
|
Table 1: The inclusion and exclusion criteria for selection of studies.
Figure 1: Prisma diagram for the search strategy and data synthesis
Results
Quantitative analysis:
Research Study characteristics:
Figure 2 shows the number of the studies from 2017 to 2023 and demonstrates that the number of experimental studies have significantly increased over the years. The most common setting for the studies were in the community, although there were other settings where interventions were researched, such as nursing homes, institutionalised residential cares, long term cares, and day care centres, as depicted in Table 2.
Figure 2: Line graph to show the distribution of the research studies with music and dance based interventions on healthy aging from period 2017 to 2023.
|
Setting Of Intervention |
Number Of Studies |
|
Community dwellers/ Residential homes/ Senior social centres |
13 |
|
Nursing homes |
5 |
|
Institutionalised residential centre |
1 |
|
Long term care |
1 |
|
Day hospital/ Day care centres |
3 |
|
Not mentioned |
1 |
|
Total |
24 |
Table 2:Frequency of the intervention settings in the research studies.
Participants characteristics:
Out of the 24 studies evaluated, participants in 10 studies were healthy older adults, and in an equal number of studies the participants were elderly with varying degrees of cognitive impairment or dementia. One study recruited older adults with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as study participant. Three studies were on older adult participants with co-morbidities like hypertension, metabolic disorders, heart conditions, etc. without any cognitive impairment or dementia or AD.
There were 11 studies having participants less than 50 in number followed by seven studies with participants ranging between 51-100. Another four studies had a participant range between 100-150, and only two studies had more than 151 participants.
The current study focussed on music, dance and combined music and dance-based interventions. The visual representation (Figure 3) and the frequency distribution (Table 3) of the three types of interventions have been plotted against the country of origin of the studies.
Figure 3: Visual representation of distribution of music, dance and combined music and dance interventions in different countries on a world map (Extrapolated from the present study).
|
Setting Of Intervention |
Number Of Studies |
|
Community dwellers/ Residential homes/ Senior social centres |
13 |
|
Nursing homes |
5 |
|
Institutionalised residential centre |
1 |
|
Long term care |
1 |
|
Day hospital/ Day care centres |
3 |
|
Not mentioned |
1 |
|
Total |
24 |
Table 2: Frequency of the intervention settings in the research studies.
Intervention characteristics:
There were 20 studies that contained a comparison or control group for the interventions, and only four studies were interventional studies without any control or comparison group. Amongst the 20 studies with a comparison group, there were 14 studies with control groups. In these studies, the control group did not receive any music or dance interventions rather continued their routine daily activities, standard care, routine therapies, and prescribed medications. The remaining 6 studies with comparisons groups contained intra and inter group comparative analysis. These comparative groups received various forms of music or dance-based interventions irrespective of their baseline medical conditions.
Further the proportion of the studies categorised by the duration and timeline of assessing the outcomes of the study is shown in Figure 4. The major number of studies were in the 12-week timeline at 58%. (Figure 4)
Figure 4: studies by duration and timeline
Qualitative Analysis:
The thematic analysis by inductive content analysis of the reported outcomes of the final 24 articles is described in Table 4 with individual study details.
|
Name of Study |
Title of Study |
Objective/Aim of The Study |
Intervention with Population and Settings |
Major Themes derived from reported outcomes |
|
|
Bennett 2018 |
Effects of line dancing on physical function and perceived limitation in older adults with self-reported mobility limitations. |
The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of 8 weeks of line dancing on balance, muscle strength, lower extremity function, endurance, gait speed, and perceived mobility limitations |
Dance intervention in healthy older adults
|
|
|
|
Brustio 2018 |
Dancing in the golden age: a study on physical function, quality of life, and social engagement. |
The primary aim of this study was to examine the effects of dancing activity on mobility performance, both in single and dual-task activities. |
Dance intervention in healthy older adults
|
|
|
|
Ho 2019 |
Managing behavioural and psychological symptoms in Chinese elderly |
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a group music intervention in managing behavioural and |
Music intervention in older adults with dementia |
|
|
|
|
with dementia via group-based music intervention: A cluster randomized controlled trial. |
psychological symptoms in Chinese elderly with dementia. |
Music intervention in older adults with dementia and co-morbidities |
|
|
|
Perez-Ros 2019 |
with dementia via group-based music intervention: A cluster randomized controlled trial. Preferred Music Listening Intervention in Nursing Home Residents with Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Intervention Study. |
psychological symptoms in Chinese elderly with dementia. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of a preferred music listening group intervention upon the functional, cognitive, and emotional dimensions in elderly people living in nursing homes. |
Music intervention in older adults with dementia and co-morbidities Dance intervention in healthy older adults
|
|
|
|
psychological symptoms in Chinese elderly with dementia. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of a preferred music listening group intervention upon the functional, cognitive, and emotional dimensions in elderly people living in nursing homes. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that a 6-week Faroese chain dance programme will improve general health status, postural balance, and physical function in elderly subjects. |
|||||
|
Effects of a 6-Week Faroese Chain Dance Programme on Postural Balance, Physical Function, and Health Profile in Elderly Subjects: A Pilot Study. |
|||||
|
Hofgaard 2019 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mismatch between subjective and objective motor improvements with adapted tango intervention in older adults. |
The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between |
Dance intervention in older adults with visual impairment and eye disorders
|
|||
|
Bennett 2020 |
Does a Live Performance Impact Synchronization to Musical Rhythm in Cognitively |
The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the social context and of the auditory conditions on SMS abilities in two groups of elderly patients with or without cognitive |
Music intervention in older adults with / without Cognitive Impairment (CI) (Synchronised |
|
|
|
Ghilain 2020 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Impaired Elderly?. |
impairments, at the time of testing. SMS was measured during a hand-tapping task in response to beats in metronomic or musical sequences, with a live or video presence of a musician. |
tapping after listening to pre-recorded and live musical performances- CI and NON-CI comparative groups) |
|
|
|
Castillejos 2021 |
Impaired Elderly?. “Music Makes My Old Heart Beat”: A Randomised Controlled Study on the Benefits of the Use of Music in Comprehensive Care for Institutionalised Older Adults. |
impairments, at the time of testing. SMS was measured during a hand-tapping task in response to beats in metronomic or musical sequences, with a live or video presence of a musician.
impairments, at the time of testing. SMS was measured during a hand-tapping task in response to beats in metronomic or musical sequences, with a live or video presence of a musician. The purpose of this study was to explore the benefits derived from the application of an evidence-based musical intervention in institutionalised older people by analysing its effect on several indicators of physical, cognitive, and emotional functioning, pain, and subjective well-being. |
tapping after listening to pre-recorded and live musical performances- CI and NON-CI comparative groups) Music intervention in older adults with / without Cognitive Impairment |
|
|
|
tapping after listening to pre-recorded and live musical performances- CI and NON-CI comparative groups) Music intervention in older adults with / without Cognitive Impairment
|
|||||
|
impairments, at the time of testing. SMS was measured during a hand-tapping task in response to beats in metronomic or musical sequences, with a live or video presence of a musician. The purpose of this study was to explore the benefits derived from the application of an evidence-based musical intervention in institutionalised older people by analysing its effect on several indicators of physical, cognitive, and emotional functioning, pain, and subjective well-being.
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
Impact of music-based intervention on verbal memory: an experimental behavioral study with older adults. |
The goal of this work was two-fold: (1) To investigate the effect of free musical improvisation, as a focal music-based intervention, on the verbal memory of older adults (2) To determine whether musical expertise protects the aging brain from deterioration of verbal memory.
|
Music intervention in musician and non-musician healthy older community dwelling adults |
|
|
|
DiazAbrahan 2021 |
Group Music Intervention Using Percussion Instruments to Reduce Anxiety Among Elderly Male Veterans |
The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a group music intervention on anxiety and depression of elderly male veterans with Alzheimer Disease. |
Music intervention with elderly male veterans with Alzheimer’s Disease |
|
|
|
Liu 2021 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
with Alzheimer Disease. |
The aim of this early development study was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of the study design and arts-based interventions (a modified dance and singing programme) for older adults recently discharged from hospital. |
Music and dance intervention in older adults with co-morbidities |
|
|
|
Clifford 2021 |
Insights from an early-stage development mixed methods study on arts-based interventions for older adults following hospitalisation. |
The aim of this early development study was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of the study design and arts-based interventions (a modified dance and singing programme) for older adults recently discharged from hospital.
|
Music and dance intervention in older adults with co-morbidities
|
Participant interviews
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
Socio-emotional and motor engagement during musical activities in older adults with major neurocognitive impairment. |
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the respective impacts of social presence and auditory context on the socio-emotional and motor engagement of elderly patients with major Cognitive impairment vs. matched participants without Cognitive impairment during musical activities. |
Music intervention in older adults with / without cognitive impairment |
|
|
|
Hobeika 2021 |
The Effect of Group Music Therapy with Physical Activities to Prevent Frailty in Older People |
This study aimed to investigate the intervention effect of music therapy with physical activities (MTPA) on frail elderly in the community. |
Music intervention in healthy older adults
|
|
|
|
Sun 2021 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
Living in the Community. |
Dance intervention in healthy older women
|
||||
|
|
The positive impact of 12 weeks of dance and balance training on the circulating amyloid precursor protein and serotonin concentration as well as physical and cognitive abilities in elderly women. |
The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of 12-weeks dance training with balance training on fall risk, physical and cognitive functions, and to evaluate the association between physical and cognitive functions with circulating markers of neurodegeneration and cognitive impairments in elders. |
Dance intervention in healthy older women Music and dance intervention in healthy older adults |
|
|
|
Rodziewicz-Flis 2022 |
Creative dance associated with traditional Portuguese singing as a strategy for |
This study aims to compare these health indicators among older adults participating in multimodal exercise (creative dance combined |
Dance intervention in healthy older women Music and dance intervention in healthy older adults
|
|
|
|
Coelho 2022 |
active aging: a comparative cross-sectional study. |
with traditional Portuguese singing), those participating in traditional physical exercise, and those not actively engaged in physical exercise. |
|||
|
Effects of fundamental movement skills based dual-task and dance training on single- and dual-task walking performance in older women with dementia. |
The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of fundamental movement skills (FMS)-based dual-task training and dance training on spatio-temporal characteristics of gait performance under single- and dual-task walking conditions among older women with dementia |
Dance and dual task of walking and counting numbers in older women with dementia |
|
||
|
Ghadiri 2022 |
Effects of Group Music Intervention on Depression for Elderly People in Nursing Homes. |
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of group music intervention on depression for elderly people in nursing homes. |
Music intervention in older adults with Cognitive Impairment |
|
|
|
Yu 2022 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reminiscence music intervention on cognitive, depressive, and behavioural symptoms in older adults with dementia. |
The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy and feasibility of reminiscence music therapy based on cultural festival music and activities to improve cognitive functions and reduce depressive and behavioural symptoms of community-dwelling older adults with dementia. |
Music intervention in older adults with dementia |
|
||
|
Tz-Han 2023 |
Tango-Therapy Intervention for Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment Living in Nursing Homes: Effects on Quality of Life, Physical |
This study sought to analyze the feasibility and |
Dance intervention in older adults with Cognitive Impairment |
|
|
|
Bracco 2023 |
Abilities and Gait. |
|
|
|
|
|
Immediate effects of individualized music listening on behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia: A randomized controlled trial. |
The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that Interactive Music Learning (IML) would reduce Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) in nursing home residents with mainly advanced dementia using an adequately powered random controlled trial (RCT) and a psychometrically evaluated observational measure. |
Music intervention in older adults with dementia |
|||
|
Hillebrand 2023 |
Changes in selected exerkines concentration post folk-dance training are accompanied by glucose |
The study aimed to evaluate the impact of selected exerkines concentration induced by folk-dance and balance training on physical performance, insulin |
Dance intervention in healthy older adults
|
|
|
|
Rodziewicz-Flis 2023 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
homeostasis and physical performance improvement in older adults. |
resistance, and blood pressure in older adults. |
|
|||
|
|
Pilot testing of a simplified dance intervention for cardiorespiratory fitness and blood lipids in obese older women. |
This study examined the efficacy of lumbo-pelvic coordination exercises on body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, and blood lipids across a 12-week supervised training programme. |
Dance intervention in obese older women
|
|
|
|
Wang 2023 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fine motor control improves in older adults after 1 year of piano lessons: Analysis of individual development and its coupling with cognition and brain structure. |
The purpose of the study was to examine behavioural and psychological differences between piano training and music-listening group at 6 months and 12 months post-intervention. |
Music intervention in healthy older adults
|
|
|
|
Worschech 2023 |
|
|
|||
|
|
Improving Postural Stability in Active Older Adults: Argentine Tango Dance as an Alternative Fall-prevention strategy. |
The study intended to determine the impact of dancing the Argentine tango on postural stability in active |
Dance intervention in healthy older adults
|
|
|
|
Table 4: Thematic analysis of the reported outcomes of the interventions |
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Discussion:
The distinctive aspect of this research lies in its exclusive focus on elucidating the effects of music and dance interventions on healthy aging. According to OECD data from 2023, nations such as Japan, Italy, Portugal, Finland, and Greece exhibit the highest proportions of aging populations (OECD, 2023). Notably, our analysis resonate with the OECD data where the studies are also concentrated in Europe, Asia and America. These data imply that countries with a significant aging demographic are progressively advocating for non-invasive strategies as preventive measures to foster healthy aging. Furthermore, our investigation indicates a rising trajectory of related studies from the period of 2017 to 2023.
Our analysis indicates that the majority of the selected studies focused on healthy older adults and those with varying levels of cognitive impairment. Notably, one study specifically targeted older adults diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Additionally, three studies cantered on older participants who had co-existing medical conditions such as hypertension, metabolic disorders, and heart-related ailments, but these participants did not exhibit signs of cognitive impairment, dementia, or AD.
In our research, we identified 12 interventions related to music and 10 pertaining to dance. Notably, two interventions (Clifford, 2021; Coelho, 2022) integrated both musical and dance elements.
Outcome of Combined Music and Dance Interventions:
Clifford et al.(2021) observed heightened well-being among participants, encompassing both physical and psychological advantages. Moreover, this research underscored the feasibility and acceptability of a refined arts-based intervention, specifically a modified dance and singing program, among its participants. Conversely, Coelho et al. (2021) reported enhancements in participants' agility and flexibility, particularly in the lower limbs. In addition, there was a notable improvement in cognitive function among participants post-intervention.
Outcome of only Dance interventions:
Ghadiri et al. (2022) explored the effects of a dance intervention that was concurrently combined with a dual-task activity, specifically walking while counting numbers. The findings revealed notable improvements in walking speed, stride length, and gait cadence among the participants. In a review of related dance interventions, six studies (Bennett et al., 2020; Bennett & Hackney, 2018; Bracco et al., 2023; Hofgaard et al., 2019; Rodziewicz-Flis et al., 2022, 2023) evidenced enhancements in participants' physical function and strength. Meanwhile, three studies (Bracco et al., 2023; Purkart et al., 2023; Rodziewicz-Flis et al., 2023) indicated progress in balance and gait. A trio of studies (Bennett et al., 2020; Bracco et al., 2023; Brustio et al., 2018) observed improvements in quality of life metrics, while another set of three researches (Bennett et al., 2020; Bennett & Hackney, 2018; Brustio et al., 2018) documented advancements in participant mobility.
In a 2023 study by Rodziewicz-Flis, it was determined that folk dance interventions serve as a beneficial strategy in addressing insulin resistance. Similarly, Wang et al. (2023) discerned enhancements in cardiorespiratory fitness and the regulation of elevated cholesterol levels through dance interventions. Brustio's 2018 research highlighted the augmentative effect of dance interventions on social engagement, while another study by Rodziewicz-Flis in 2022 documented cognitive advancements subsequent to the dance intervention.
Outcome of only Music interventions:
Within the domain of music interventions, a body of research underscores its varied therapeutic benefits. Four studies (Liu et al., 2021; Sun & Li, 2021; Tz-Han et al., 2023; Yu et al., 2022) have collectively ascertained that music interventions contribute to the mitigation of depressive symptoms. Cognitive enhancements were reported in two distinct studies (Pérez-Ros et al., 2019; Tz-Han et al., 2023). Additionally, both Pérez-Ros et al. (2019) and Castillejos & Godoy-Izquierdo (2021) delineated the role of music interventions in elevating mood and enhancing functional states. Furthermore, Castillejos & Godoy-Izquierdo (2021) identified a surge in participants' happiness levels as a result of music interventions, along with an improvement in hand grip strength. Worschech et al. (2023) elucidated that engaging in instrument playing, particularly the piano, bolsters fine motor abilities and contributes to comprehensive advancements in motor coordination, cognitive processing, and neural development in the elderly population. Diaz Abrahan et al. (2021) posited that older musician individuals exhibit superior word recall and recognition capacities in contrast to their non-musician counterparts. Sun & Li (2021) emphasized the synergistic benefits of combining music interventions with physical activities, leading to enhanced overall physical activity levels and decreased frailty. Castillejos & Godoy-Izquierdo (2021) also found that music interventions are efficacious in ameliorating pain. Lastly, Hillebrand et al. (2023) spotlighted the positive impact of interactive music learning in attenuating the behavioural and psychological manifestations associated with dementia. However, it is interesting to see that Pérez-Ros et al. (2019) found no improvement in cognitive function and emotional condition in music listening intervention.
Strengths and Limitations:
Our research uniquely collates and synthesises the evidence from dance and music-based interventions as non-pharmacological approaches. Our study focuses on the effects of these specific therapies on improvement of the quality of life metrics including the physical, psychological and behavioural aspects of healthy aging.
However, this study is not without its limitations. Firstly, our research narrowly focuses on the effects of music and dance interventions on the quality of life in older adults, examining both modalities individually and in combination. During the screening phase, we identified several interventions that incorporated various forms of physical exercises, such as Zumba and Tai Chi among others, that utilized music as an integral component. However, these interventions were outside our study's purview. Thus, future research would benefit from evaluating the influence of exercise-based interventions on the quality of life in the elderly population.
Secondly, the articles incorporated in our study predominantly featured small sample sizes, which curtails the generalizability of the interventions' outcomes.
Thirdly, the dance interventions predominantly encompassed participants with mild to moderate mobility challenges. Consequently, the applicability and replicability of these interventions may be limited for individuals with more severe mobility constraints.
Lastly, a noticeable gap in the selected studies was the absence of follow-up assessments to determine the enduring impacts of these interventions. Subsequent studies should prioritize the design of long-term interventions and conduct post-intervention evaluations to ascertain the persistence of observed changes over time.
Conclusion:
This scoping review highlighted the growing interest in dance and music interventions for ageing populations. Although a multitude of NPIs have been studied on the ageing population, dance and music were the interventions that could not be separated from each other. Hence, the authors collated articles studying these two interventions in a community setting to avoid unnecessary bias. Nevertheless, there remains a pressing need to investigate other NPIs such as physical exercise, reminiscence therapy, painting, poetry, gardening, theatre among others, since their effects on healthy ageing are largely unexplored. In context to the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, it's vital for policymakers and international agencies to support holistic, multidimensional studies examining a range of NPIs in diverse settings. This will allow for alignment of comprehensive and collaborative research efforts with the goals of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing.
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