How a music-based dementia study found success in Fort Collins

For one man, it meant being able to talk to his wife about something that had happened the day before. 

For one woman, it meant — after years of marriage — finding out that her husband played the trumpet as a child.

After providing Fort Collins Symphony season tickets to 22 people with dementia and their caregivers starting last year, these are some of the success stories. Small, but meaningful, they further proved to researchers the powerful connection of music and memory. 

"As people's memories fade, part of the challenge is they lose their ability to have meaningful interactions with their loved ones," said Jeni Cross, an associate sociology professor at CSU and the principal investigator for the B Sharp Program study, which started in 2015 as a partnership between Banner Health, Kaiser Permanente, CSU, and the Fort Collins Symphony, among other agencies.

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"For some pairs, it provoked old memories, things they had never shared," Cross said. "And it provoked new memories. It reminded them of their past connection to each other and provided memorable enough experiences to remember and talk about." 

As part of the study, Cross, who worked alongside two other researchers, collected data from the people with dementia and their caregivers before, during and after each of the Fort Collins Symphony's five masterworks concerts during its 2015-16 season. The process started in September 2015 and consisted of cognitive tests and assessments for depression, memory, mood and attention through the following June.

Built around existing Fort Collins Symphony performances, the program hosted receptions before and after each show and the Symphony announced the program before each performance. The pairs were also given the same seats each time, increasing predictability for the study participants with dementia.

"There's been less research done in this field of community music and its benefits," Cross said. According to the outlined program goals, the mission of B Sharp was to improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their caregivers through participation in the arts, to expand opportunities for social interaction for individuals with dementia and their caregivers and to increase feelings of social support and community connection among caregivers and individuals with dementia.

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So, what were the results? 

According to Cross, the cognitive tests given to the participants with dementia showed that many experienced improved cognitive function from September 2015 to the following June, one month after the concert series ended — an overall improvement that is "statistically significant," Cross said. 

"It's very hopeful," she added. "Dementia is a degenerative disease so if we were studying people who were getting no intervention, we would expect those (cognitive test) scores to go down."

"Usually, the best you can hope for is no change, so this is an even more positive result," she said, adding that she's hesitant to point a finger to what exactly helped to improve those cognitive functions since different participants benefited from the program in different ways.

"What it does do is encourage us," Cross said. "It encourages us to collect more data on this and to understand it more fully; to think about how long lasting (these results) are."

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Cross and her fellow researchers presented their findings of the first B Sharp Program study at the Music Care conference in Toronto in mid-November. 

By that time, the second year of the B Sharp program had started, with another group of people with dementia and their caregivers, attending a Symphony concert in October. The program's second run has about two-thirds of its necessary funding for the season. A fundraiser hosted by Jubilate! Sacred Singers hopes to raise funds on Dec. 3.  

"The plan is for it to continue year after year," said Cross, who added that they're also eyeing an expansion of the program that would include other experiences in the Fort Collins arts community. One idea is already in the works with the Fort Collins Museum of Art. 

Researchers are also hoping to include training for caregivers, which would provide tools and strategies for using music strategically and purposefully in their daily lives at home.

For more information on the program, or to learn how you can participate in the future, contact Angel Hoffman at 970-820-6871.

Fundraiser

To support the B Sharp Program, you can attend the 4 p.m. Dec. 3 fundraiser at MacKenzie Place, 4751 Pleasant Oak Dr., in Fort Collins. Hosted by Jubilate! Sacred Singers, money raised at the event will go toward funding the concert tickets, participant receptions and research that goes into the B Sharp program.