# Making Connections Thru Music: A Group Music Therapy-Based Intervention for Persons with Dementia > **NIH NIH R42** · HOPEFUL AGING LLC · 2024 · $847,861 ## Abstract PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Healthcare systems around the world, including within the United States, have long-established shortages of trained caregivers (WHO, 2016; Jones, Liu, Murfield, & Moyle, 2020). The American Health Care Association (2019) states that “the health care system has experienced a shortage of trained caregivers for critical roles for some time.” This scarcity directly impacts the 45,800 Long-Term Care (LTC) communities throughout the U.S. (Harris-Kojetin et al, 2016). Concurrent with this staff shortage, more than half of LTC residents have some form of dementia (Alzheimer’s Association, 2019). These two issues create a serious public health concern, since dementia is associated with a variety of behavioral expressions, such as aggression, anxiety, and agitation (Cummings, 1997). Behavioral expressions of dementia can be successfully managed with the use of tailored, psychosocial interventions and communication support (Vernooij-Dassen et al., 2010; Fazio et al., 2018). Unfortunately, existing staff shortages make the facilitation of such interventions challenging. One powerful and often-overlooked approach to ameliorating staffing shortages involves the utilization of retired volunteers to facilitate interventions for persons with dementia (PWD). Based on the nearly universal love of music and a promising pilot study, the product to be developed and tested in this STTR will build upon the combined prior work of the Principal Investigators. Making Connections Thru Music (MCTM), an urgently needed product, will enable retired volunteers to facilitate an evidence-based music and discussion intervention with PWD. MCTM aims to improve engagement, enhance quality of life, and reduce behavioral expressions in PWD. The intervention will consist of two main components: (1) a comprehensive online training course for volunteers, which will provide a general overview of dementia, demonstrate effective communication strategies to use with PWD, and instruct volunteers to effectively facilitate MCTM sessions, and (2) an app containing a structured MCTM intervention protocol and toolkit, which will be the means by which volunteers facilitate MCTM. MCTM will be marketed to LTC communities. PHASE 1 SPECIFIC AIMS The 12-month Phase I project has the following Specific Aims: · Aim 1: Improve and expand upon the MCTM training materials / curriculum and the MCTM intervention itself. · Aim 2: Produce two MCTM prototype training modules. · Aim 3: Produce a prototype of a MCTM tablet-based app. · Aim 4: Conduct focus groups to examine feasibility and acceptability of the prototype training modules and app. PHASE II SPECIFIC AIMS The 24-month Phase II has the following Specific Aims. · Aim 1: Finalize the MCTM online training course. · Aim 2: Complete development of the MCTM tablet-based app. · Aim 3: Conduct a Fidelity Trial of the MCTM intervention. In the Fidelity Trial, we will examine staff and volunteer adherence to the intervention, eng... ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 10899625 - **Project number:** 5R42AG076037-03 - **Recipient organization:** HOPEFUL AGING LLC - **Principal Investigator:** Gregg Gorzelle - **Activity code:** R42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2024 - **Award amount:** $847,861 - **Award type:** 5 - **Project period:** 2022-09-15 → 2026-08-31 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10899625 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10899625, Making Connections Thru Music: A Group Music Therapy-Based Intervention for Persons with Dementia (5R42AG076037-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10899625. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*