Are you 60 or older and interested in joining a creative group activity, such as a choir or audiobook club?
Want to help researchers understand how creative group activities affect social connection, speech perception, and wellbeing?
Researchers at Toronto Metropolitan University are inviting 30 participants to take part in a 12-week research study exploring the benefits of engaging in group activities like singing and audiobook discussions. All sessions take place at Toronto Metropolitan University.
About the Study
Title: Exploring the benefits of group activity.
Eligibility: To participate, you must be 60 years and older, be fluent in English, and not use a hearing aid or other assistive listening device. You must not have a pacemaker or use anti-arrhythmic agents that affect your heart rate. You must also have not participated in any formal music learning (e.g., choir, formal music lessons) or audiobook clubs in the past year.
Funding: This project is funded by a grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Investigators: The study is being conducted by Dr. Chi Yhun Lo, the Principal Investigator (PI) of Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as co-investigators, Dr. Frank Russo, Professor, Dr Arla Good, Adjunct Professor, Dr Maxime Perron, Post Doc, all of TMU. There are also research staff working on this project: Kay Wright-Whyte and Katherine Spencer also of TMU.
Total number of participants sought: 30
Brief Description:The purpose of this study is to explore the benefits of a 12-week creative group activity on loneliness, social isolation and speech perception.
Time commitment: weekly group sessions for 12 weeks, and about 7.5–8 hours of testing (4 – 4.5 hours pre-activity and 3.5 hours post-activity).
Incentive : For participating in this research study, you will receive $20 per hour pro rated, after each test session (7.5 – 8 hours of testing/ $150-160).
Ethics: The ethics protocol for this study has been reviewed and approved by the Toronto Metropolitan University Research Ethics Board (2021-290)
Interested? Questions?
Please email smartlab@torontomu.ca with the subject line “Exploring the benefits of creative group activity”