Theresa Allison, MD, PhD
Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

Dr. Allison’s research sits at the intersection of music, well-being, dementia and relationships, bridging the medical humanities and health sciences. Her research areas include the impact of music on well-being among diverse older adults living with and without dementia across nursing home and community settings. She provides Geriatrics inpatient care in the San Francisco VA Health Care System.

• Integrative review of singing and music interventions for family carers of people living with dementia.
  Health promotion international 2022 Lee S, Allison T, O'Neill D, Punch P, Helitzer E, Moss H
• "I Didn't Sign Up for This": Perspectives from Persons Living with Dementia and Care Partners on Challenges, Supports, and Opportunities to Add Geriatric Neuropalliative Care to Dementia Specialty Care.
  Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD 2022 Harrison KL, Garrett SB, Halim M, Bernstein Sideman A, Allison TA, Dohan D, Naasan G, Miller BL, Smith AK, Ritchie CS
• Meaningful Activities and Sources of Meaning for Community-Dwelling People Living with Dementia.
  Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 2021 Allison TA, Gubner JM, Oh A, Harrison KL, Pham K, Barnes DE, Johnson JK, Covinsky KE, Smith AK
• Front-Line Hospice Staff Perceptions of Barriers and Opportunities to Discussing Advance Care Planning With Hospice Patients and Their Families.
  Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 2021 Oh A, Allison TA, Mahoney K, Thompson N, Ritchie CS, Sudore RL, Harrison KL
• Engagement in Meaningful Activities Among Older Adults With Disability, Dementia, and Depression.
  JAMA internal medicine 2021 Oh A, Gan S, Boscardin WJ, Allison TA, Barnes DE, Covinsky KE, Smith AK
• The Adoption of Video Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic by VA Home Based Primary Care.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2020 Cheng MKW, Allison TA, McSteen BW, Cattle CJ, Lo DT
• Extreme Vulnerability of Home Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic-A Call to Action.
  JAMA internal medicine 2020 Allison TA, Oh A, Harrison KL
• Multi-cultural perspectives on group singing among diverse older adults.
  Geriatric nursing (New York, N.Y.) 2020 Allison TA, Nápoles AM, Johnson JK, Stewart AL, Rodriguez-Salazar M, Peringer J, Sherman S, Ortez-Alfaro J, Villero O, Portacolone E
• Transforming Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Dementia through Music and Filmmaking.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2020 Gubner J, Smith AK, Allison TA
• Hospice Staff Perspectives on Caring for People with Dementia: A Multisite, Multistakeholder Study.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2020 Harrison KL, Allison TA, Garrett SB, Thompson N, Sudore RL, Ritchie CS
• "Now I Write Songs": Growth and Reciprocity After Long-Term Nursing Home Placement.
  The Gerontologist 2020 Allison TA, Smith AK
• Key Ingredients of an Ideal System for High-Quality Community Care for Persons With Dementia.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2019 Oh A, Smith AK, Allison TA
• Caring community and relationship centred care on an end-stage dementia special care unit.
  Age and ageing 2019 Allison TA, Balbino RT, Covinsky KE
• High Prevalence of Malnutrition among Elderly Veterans in Home Based Primary Care.
  The journal of nutrition, health & aging 2017 Win AZ, Ceresa C, Arnold K, Allison TA
• Journal of Folklore Research, guest-edited by TA Allison, JM Cohen and DB Reed
  Introduction: Toward common cause: Music, team science and global health. 2017 Allison TA, Cohen JM, Reed DB
• Sense of Control in End-of-Life Decision-Making.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2016 Romo RD, Allison TA, Smith AK, Wallhagen MI
• Study protocol for a cluster randomized trial of the Community of Voices choir intervention to promote the health and well-being of diverse older adults.
  BMC public health 2015 Johnson JK, Nápoles AM, Stewart AL, Max WB, Santoyo-Olsson J, Freyre R, Allison TA, Gregorich SE
• This Thing Called Music. V Levine and P Bohlman (Eds.)
  Recording the Life Review: A Case Study from the Medical Humanities 2015 Allison TA
• In Current Diagnosis and Treatment in Geriatrics. CS Landefeld, B Williams and A Chang (Eds.)
  Long-Term Care, Nursing Home and Rehabilitation 2014 Allison TA
• Disregard of patients' preferences is a medical error: comment on "Failure to engage hospitalized elderly patients and their families in advance care planning".
  JAMA internal medicine 2013 Allison TA, Sudore RL
• Ethnomusicology
  Book review: The Culture of AIDS in Africa: Hope and Healing through Music and the Arts 2013 Allison TA
• The nursing home as village: lessons from ethnomusicology
  Journal of Aging, Humanities and the Arts 2010
• Transcending the Limitations of Institutionalized Aging Through Music: Ethnomusicology in the Nursing Home. PhD dissertation
  Transcending the Limitations of Institutionalized Aging Through Music: Ethnomusicology in the Nursing Home. PhD dissertation. 2010 Allison TA
• The Oxford Handbook of Medical Ethnomusicology, Koen B, Barz G and Brummel-Smith K, Eds
  Songwriting and transcending institutional boundaries in the nursing home 2008 Allison TA