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People living with dementia in rural and regional settings face significant barriers to accessing specialised services and meaningful opportunities for social participation. Sing Out Choir was established in Dubbo, NSW in 2022 to provide an inclusive activity for people living with dementia in the region. The success of the choir is reflected in its growth to almost 200 participants coming together weekly to sing, dance and connect. A qualitative study in 2025 found participants, carers, volunteers and facilitators identified a strong sense of belonging and associated many positive benefits with their involvement with Sing Out Choir. Building on these findings, a pilot study was conducted to assess the acceptability and feasibility of delivering pre-recorded choir sessions to residents in aged care facilities who are unable attend in-person sessions. Two regional facilities participated, with the intervention site offering weekly pre-recorded choir sessions and the control site providing standard activities only. Pre-post surveys at both sites assessed loneliness and psychological distress. A post-intervention focus group with participants at the intervention site explored residents’ experiences of the intervention and staff interviews at the intervention site explored program feasibility. This presentation will share findings from the pilot, including insights into the feasibility of delivering recorded choir sessions as a scalable, low resource model for enhancing social connection and wellbeing among people living in residential aged care in rural and regional communities.
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