Choir Mitigates Distress for Caregivers of Those With Dementia: The Voices in Motion Project

Music-based interventions show promise for attenuating caregiver distress (CD) in informal dementia caregivers; however, research on comparable dyadic interventions is limited. This study aimed to provide a novel evaluation of whether a dyadic choral intervention could facilitate reductions in CD across 2 choral seasons. 30 caregiving dyads participated in a dementia choir across 2 ∼3.5-month choral seasons separated by a ∼4-month summer break: a naturalistic ABA design. Repeated assessment of the Zarit Burden Interview yielded up to 7 assessments of CD across the 2 choral seasons. Results showed that CD significantly declined across a participant's first choral season, significantly rebounded to new highs upon returning from a summer break, and began to decline again; though, this latter trajectory was not significant. These results highlight the effectiveness of dyadic, music-based interventions for attenuating CD in dementia caregivers, and provides a novel methodological paradigm for use in future research.