Caregiver Singing Intervention: Do Expressions of Emotion and Resistance Differ Between Persons with Vascular Dementia and Those with Alzheimer’s Disease? A Pilot Study

Background: The music intervention caregiver singing (CS) has been shown to be beneficial in facilitating care of persons with dementia in residential care, but no studies have focused on possible differences with respect to dementia diagnosis, which might be important due to possible different symptoms. Aim: To describe expressed emotions and resistiveness to care among persons with vascular dementia or Alzheimer’s disease during CS. Method: The study is a pilot intervention of CS which contains pre- and intervention measurements. Participants were persons with vascular dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Measures were the Resistiveness to Care Scale and the Observed Emotion Rating Scale. Care situations without and with CS were compared of persons with vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The data are described with descriptive statistics. Results: During CS, positive emotion increased for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular disease, with far longer intervals observed among persons with Alzheimer’s disease. Conclusion: CS may have positive influences regardless of diagnosis, but when targeting different emotional expressions, diagnosis may play an important role. However, larger studies need to be undertaken to confirm the results of this pilot study.