GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT
The study was to investigate the roles of music in the wellbeing of the elderly in Akwa Ibom
State. Ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study with the population consisting
of elderly, social scientists and music teachers in Akwa Ibom State. Stratified random
sampling technique was used to select 60 elderly, 20 social scientists and 20 music teachers
giving a total of 100 respondents that constituted the sample size for the study. The
Instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire titled “MUSIC AND WELLBEING
QUESTIONNAIRE (MWQ)”. Face and content validation of the instrument was carried out
by an expert in test and measurement/evaluation from University of Uyo to ensure that the
instrument has the accuracy, appropriateness and completeness for the study. Cronbach
Alpha technique was used to determine the level of reliability of the instrument. The
reliability coefficient obtained was 0.80 and this was high enough to justify the use of the
instrument. The researcher subjected the data generated for this study to appropriate
statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The test for
significance was done at 0.05 alpha levels. The study concluded that there are various types
of music such as art music, popular music, religious music and circular music. Also, there is
now emerging evidence that music listening has an enhancing effect on mood and arousal,
which can temporarily improve cognitive performance in attention or memory tasks in
healthy older adults. Finally, there is significant impact of music on the well-being of the
elderly in Akwa Ibom State. One of the recommendations made was that music should be
incorporated into the daily care regimes of the elderly.
KEYWORDS: Music, Roles, Wellbeing, Elderly and AkwaIbom State