Mari Walthaug: A meaningful life in a nursing home.

Field of study: Music Therapy/Music and Health

This PhD project will result in an article-based thesis on the experience of meaning in life for nursing home residents with dementia.

Firstly, Walthaug will do a scoping review to survey studies of music therapy and perceived meaning for this group.

Secondly, she will carry out a longitudinal correlation study to investigate whether perceived degree of meaning co-varies with depression symptoms, function and quality of life in one hundred nursing home residents with dementia.

Finally, based on the acquired information of existing studies and meaning-related variables, Walthaug will design a music therapy intervention that intends to strengthen the perceived meaning for this group, and carry out a feasibility study in a nursing home.