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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify optimal strategies of music intervention for contributing to the mental well-being of healthy elderly people. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effect of music therapy and music education on three groups of participants: healthy elderly unaccompanied during treatment sessions, healthy elderly accompanied by grandchildren (ages five to seven) during treatment sessions, and a control group. ANOVA and Independent Sample T-test techniques were employed to compare the effects of music activity among the groups, while Paired Sample T-test techniques were employed to test the effects of music activity within groups. The results indicated that the unaccompanied elderly group showed significant improvements on mood, self-esteem, and depression measurements, while the group of elderly accompanied by grandchildren showed improvement only on the mood scale. These results suggest several implications for the area of music therapy and music education, especially with regard to improving the healthy elderlys self-esteem, depression, and mood as components of successful aging.