[Testing Effectiveness of Localized Cognitive Stimulation Training With Musical Rhythm Courses Among Older People in...

Staff caregivers of day care centers provide many activities for older people. However, there is a lack of a systematic curriculum based on Taiwanese culture to improve cognitive function, self-care ability, and depressive mood status in these individuals.

This study was designed to test the effectiveness of a series of localized cognitive stimulation training courses implemented by direct caregivers and aimed at improving cognitive function, self-care ability, and depressive mood in older people at day care centers.

This cluster-randomized controlled trial research was conducted over a four-month period. The participants were randomly assigned to the experimental, comparison, or control groups based on their day care center affiliation. The experimental group received a series of localized cognitive stimulation training sessions with musical rhythm courses from day care center direct caregivers. The cognitive function, self-care ability, and depression mood state of the three groups were then tested.

The experimental group reported statistically significant changes in average scores for attention, feeding, and depressive mood. After controlling for time and degree of participation in activities, the comparison group reported a lower average score for cognitive function at timepoint 3.

The results of this study support caregivers at day care centers implementing a series of localized cognitive stimulation training course interventions to prevent declines in activities of daily living and cognitive function and ameliorate depressive mood in older adults. In the future, a larger sample size should be used to improve the effectiveness of the intervention.