Dr Simone Marino with the Choir from InCasa Aged Care and Group Companies. Credit score: Edith Cowan College
An revolutionary Edith Cowan College (ECU) analysis mission is utilizing the ability of music and storytelling to assist the well-being of older Italian migrants, together with these dwelling with dementia.
The Comusichiamo mission, led by Edith Cowan College (ECU) Submit Doctoral Analysis Fellow Dr. Simone Marino, engages contributors and their households in co-creating songs impressed by melodies from their previous, whereas additionally growing life-story booklets that combine their first language and recollections. The goal of those actions, mixed with group choir periods, is to take care of cognitive perform, reinforce social id, and improve total well-being.
Dr. Marino stated music has the ability to unlock deep-seated recollections, particularly when it’s culturally significant. “For many Italian migrants, singing traditional songs or hearing familiar instruments evokes emotions and memories that reconnect them with their past and strengthen their sense of self.”
The paper is revealed within the Journal of Intercultural Research.
Enhancing well-being by means of music and storytelling
The Comusichiamo program, primarily based at InCasa, an aged care house and group heart close to Fremantle, includes 12 contributors in particular person periods and about 30 individuals in group choir actions.
“Co-creating culturally tailored songs and life-story booklets in participants’ first language improves mood, enhances physical and social engagement, and fosters better communication,” Dr. Marino stated.
“And singing within the choir reinforces a way of belonging, strengthening social bonds and inspiring emotional expression, and brings laughter and pleasure.
“This shared experience not only promotes cognitive stimulation but also restores a sense of agency, as participants actively shape their own cultural and emotional narratives.”
Music as a cultural anchor
Dr. Marino’s inspiration for Comusichiamo is each skilled and private.
“I witnessed my Italian grandfather, Nonno Nino, experience cognitive decline, yet he would light up when telling stories from the war,” Dr. Marino stated.
“This, along with my own experiences as an immigrant and researcher among Italian migrants in Australia, led me to explore how cultural engagement can play a vital role in dementia care.”
A recent strategy to dementia care
In 2021, an estimated 472,000 Australians had been dwelling with dementia, with the quantity projected to extend to greater than one million individuals by 2058.
And as one in three individuals over 65 are born abroad, these with dementia embrace individuals from culturally and linguistically numerous (CaLD) backgrounds.
Dr. Marino stated initiatives like Comusichiamo can present essential insights into how aged care could be extra inclusive and attentive to numerous cultural backgrounds.
“By focusing on cultural safety and identity, Comusichiamo offers a non-pharmacological approach to dementia care—one that prioritizes connection, dignity, and quality of life,” he stated.
“Too often, aged care services overlook the cultural aspects of dementia care. This research highlights the important role of music and storytelling in maintaining connection and well-being, offering an approach that is not only therapeutic but deeply meaningful.”
The mission emerged from discussions with main migration researcher, ECU Professor Loretta Baldassar in 2019 and was initially piloted in aged care amenities in Adelaide, earlier than increasing to Western Australia in 2023. It is at the moment persevering with and increasing, collaborating underneath the supervision of Professor Narelle Lemon at ECU’s Faculty of Schooling, the analysis is deepening its give attention to well-being.
Extra data:
Simone Marino et al, Comusichiamo . First Language, Life-Soundtracks and Storytelling to Help the Cultural Wellbeing of Migrants Residing with Dementia, Journal of Intercultural Research (2024). DOI: 10.1080/07256868.2024.2418601
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Unlocking recollections of the previous with the soundtrack of a lifetime (2025, April 3)
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