Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of music therapy interventions utilizing two types of touch—expressive touch and instrumental touch, on the behavior states of older adults who have late-stage dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. A secondary purpose of this study was to examine the music therapist’s perceived rapport when expressive and instrumental touches were used in therapy. Participants were 9 older adults (ranging from 60-100 years of age) who had late stage dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. A within-subject design was used with each participant receiving three sessions in each of the experimental conditions: no touch, expressive touch, and instrumental touch. All sessions were videotaped for analysis and coding to: 1) measure the time participants spent in alert behavior states according to the behavior state coding system (Guess et al., 1990) and 2) rate the music therapist’s client rapport. When all experimental sessions were combined (initial, first, and second repetitions), the instrumental touch condition was significantly more effective than the no touch condition in eliciting and maintaining participants’ alert behaviors. Further analysis of conditions and repetitions revealed that during the initial touch sessions, expressive touch was significantly more effective than the control conditions in eliciting and maintaining participants’ alert behaviors; however, during the first and second repetitions, there was no significant difference between experimental and control conditions in eliciting and maintaining participants’ alert behaviors. Independent observers’ rapport ratings revealed that the therapist’s client rapport was perceived to be significantly higher during the expressive and instrumental touch conditions than the control condition. These findings have important implications for music therapy practice and the use of nonverbal forms of communication.
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