Creative Practice as Mutual Recovery

NCT01906892 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: AH/K003364/1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 150
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study explores the hypothesis that mental health service users, their carers and musicians can - through the creative act of music learning and performing - mutually enhance wellbeing through the development of more meaningful and resilient lives. The project seeks to explore three interconnected issues: (i) the extent to which music learning and performing provides a forum for 'mutual recovery' among adult mental health service users, their formal/informal carers, and musicians, (ii) the characteristic features of 'mutual recovery' through music, and (iii) the underlying mechanisms of such 'mutual recovery'. The study will consist of three different stages. Stages 1 and 2 will examine the effect of a variety of group activities - including participatory music, listening to live music, listening to recorded music and a non-music control - on psychological scales, saliva samples of stress hormones and cytokines, and subjective experience to see which provide the most relaxing, sociable and supportive environments for mutual recovery. Stage 3 will explore the impact of musical interventions over longer periods of time. A systematic review we have just carried out has revealed a major gap in research comparing different music interventions and testing the effects of different lengths of interventions. As a result, our study should help us answer the following questions:

• Which aspect(s) of music can contribute to mutual recovery?
• Do carers, patients and musicians all respond to the same activities, or do some musical activities suit certain groups more than others?
• Do carers, patients and musicians all recover at the same rate?
• What length of intervention is most effective? If certain interventions are found to produce stronger results than others, these results could help guide community groups and healthcare settings in their design of music activities and have implications for the spending of arts-in-health budgets.

Conditions

Individuals Experiencing Mild or Moderate Mental Health Issues

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale

  Change from baseline (recorded in the week prior to participation in either 6 or 10 weeks of music interventions) to the end of participation in the music interventions

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Secker's 'Measure of social inclusion for arts and mental health project participants'

  Change from baseline (recorded in the week prior to participation in either 6 or 10 weeks of music interventions) to (a) the end of participation in the music interventions, and (b) 3 months after the end of music interventions

• Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC)

  Change from baseline (recorded in the week prior to participation in either 6 or 10 weeks of music interventions) to (a) the end of participation in the music interventions, and (b) 3 months after the end of music interventions

• Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale

  Change from baseline (recorded in the week prior to participation in either 6 or 10 weeks of music interventions) to (a) the end of participation in the music interventions, and (b) 3 months after the end of music interventions

• Saliva levels of cortisol

  Change from baseline (taken immediately before the music intervention) when measured immediately following the 60 or 90 minute music intervention session

• Blood pressure

  Change from baseline (taken immediately before the music intervention) when measured immediately following the 60 or 90 minute music intervention session

Study Arms (8)

1a

EXPERIMENTAL

6 weeks of group drumming workshops

Other: Group drumming (participatory)

1b

EXPERIMENTAL

6 weeks of group drumming workshops

Other: Group drumming (participatory)

2a

EXPERIMENTAL

2 weeks of active group drumming followed by 2 weeks of control activity involving a literary-based activity

Other: Group drumming (participatory); Other: Comparative activity

2b

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

2 weeks of the literary-based comparative activity followed by 2 weeks of watching live group drumming

Other: Group drumming (live); Other: Comparative activity

2c

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

2 weeks of listening to live group drumming followed by 2 weeks of listening to recordings of group drumming

Other: Group drumming (live); Other: Group drumming (recorded)

2d

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

2 weeks of listening to recorded group drumming followed by 2 weeks of participation in group drumming

Other: Group drumming (participatory); Other: Group drumming (recorded)

3a

EXPERIMENTAL

10 weeks of participatory group drumming workshops

Other: Group drumming (participatory)

3b

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

10 weeks of engagement with other non-musical social activities

Other: Group drumming (participatory)

Interventions

Group drumming (participatory) OTHER

Active participation in group drumming workshops

1a; 1b; 2a; 2d; 3a; 3b

Group drumming (live) OTHER

Listening to live performances of group drumming

2b; 2c

Group drumming (recorded) OTHER

Listening to recorded performances of group drumming

2c; 2d

Comparative activity OTHER

Taking part in a literary-based activity

2a; 2b

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Individuals of either gender and over the age of 18 who are experiencing mild or moderate mental health issues including but not limited to: stress, anxiety, depression etc.
• Individuals of either gender and over the age of 18 who formally or informally care for mental health service users.
• Musicians who are professional workshop leaders and music students training to be professional musicians.

You may not qualify if:

• Serious mental health problems which might
• prevent an individual from giving informed consent
• cause the individual to be a disruption to other participants
• Individuals for whom the music activity might conflict with other routine care.
• Individuals with gum disease which would invalidate saliva samples.
• Total deafness or severely impaired hearing.
• Musicians or music students who apply to participate in the project but who are not deemed to have sufficient experience or expertise.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Royal College of Music: lead

Study Sites (1)

Centre for Performance Science, Royal College of Music

London, SW7 2BS, United Kingdom

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Fancourt D, Perkins R, Ascenso S, Carvalho LA, Steptoe A, Williamon A. Effects of Group Drumming Interventions on Anxiety, Depression, Social Resilience and Inflammatory Immune Response among Mental Health Service Users. PLoS One. 2016 Mar 14;11(3):e0151136. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151136. eCollection 2016.

  PMID: 26974430 DERIVED

• Fancourt D, Perkins R, Ascenso S, Atkins L, Kilfeather S, Carvalho L, Steptoe A, Williamon A. Group Drumming Modulates Cytokine Response in Mental Health Services Users: A Preliminary Study. Psychother Psychosom. 2016;85(1):53-5. doi: 10.1159/000431257. Epub 2015 Nov 27. No abstract available.

  PMID: 26610172 DERIVED

Study Officials

• Aaron Williamon, PhD

  Royal College of Music

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 16, 2013
• First Posted: July 24, 2013
• Study Start: November 1, 2013
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2014
• Study Completion: April 1, 2015
• Last Updated: November 26, 2015

Record last verified: 2015-11

Locations

GB (1)