The purpose of this study is to compare different responses from the elderly with dementia according to their playing methods, i.e. direct playing of a percussion with hands or with mallet. Subjects participated in the study are thirty senior persons ...
The purpose of this study is to compare different responses from the elderly with dementia according to their playing methods, i.e. direct playing of a percussion with hands or with mallet. Subjects participated in the study are thirty senior persons aged from 69 to 96, with an average age of 82.1, who are receiving services from 2 adult day care centers and 1 dementia care facility. In the study, percussions that can be used to test hypothesis through acoustical analysis were selected, then 7 experiment sessions had proceeded for 4 weeks individually between a researcher and each subject for the response test. Each session was videotaped and 6 minutes of playing recordings of 10 minute session were used to compare responses from senior persons with dementia when they play differently in playing method. Videotaped data were evaluated by three experts in relevant fields, using Interval Recording to observe playing responses. For data analysis, characteristics of subjects are described as frequency and percentage. Fisher's exact test was conducted for homogeneity test and Independent Samples t-test for hypothesis test.
In conclusion, elderly persons who played percussion with hands showed high results(t=2.82, p < .01), statistically meaningful, than those played with mallet. The results implies that direct delivery of vibrotactile stimulation through a person's body brings more responses from the elderly with dementia than indirect touch to a vibrating percussion with mallet.