Extending the Reach of an Evidence-Based Theatrical Intervention

Background/Study Context: In Experiment 1, the authors investigated whether they could train retirement home activity directors with no previous experience in theatre to successfully execute an evidence-based 4-week theatre-arts intervention. In Experiment 2, they investigated whether an outside pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental aging research 2013-07, Vol.39 (4), p.398-418
Main Authors: Noice, Helga, Noice, Tony
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of Daily Living
Adult. Elderly
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Cognitive ability
Developmental psychology
Drama
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Housing for the Elderly
Humans
Intervention
Male
Mental Recall
Neuropsychological Tests
Older people
Problem Solving
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Teaching
Theater
Training
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Summary:Background/Study Context: In Experiment 1, the authors investigated whether they could train retirement home activity directors with no previous experience in theatre to successfully execute an evidence-based 4-week theatre-arts intervention. In Experiment 2, they investigated whether an outside professional acting teacher who received only minimal training via e-mail and telephone could successfully execute the same intervention heretofore only carried out by the actor/director/professor who devised it. Methods: A total of 115 participants (ages 68-94) in four different retirement homes were taught theatre arts either by their in-house activity director who had no formal training in theatre or a professional acting teacher recruited through a local community college. The intervention consisted of twice-weekly 70-min lessons for 4 weeks. After random assignment to experimental or waiting-list control groups, participants were given pre- and posttests on both functional and cognitive measures. Results: Experiment 1 showed that activity directors were able to run this intervention and achieve significant results on the 28-item functional measure (Observed Tasks of Daily Living, Revised [OTDL-R]) as measured by a mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVA) and paired-sample t tests (p 
ISSN:0361-073X
1096-4657
DOI:10.1080/0361073X.2013.808116