Study protocol: randomized controlled trial of an individualized music intervention for people with dementia in the home care setting.

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that individualized music listening is an effective, non-pharmacological intervention for improving the quality of life of people with dementia in the institutional care setting. Noting that most people with dementia live at home, we conduct a randomized controlled trial to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of an app-based individualized music listening intervention for people with dementia in the home care setting. The intervention is delivered by family caregivers. METHODS: We will recruit N = 130 dyads consisting of one person with dementia living at home and their family caregiver. After a baseline assessment, dyads are randomly assigned by gender to either the intervention or control group. People with dementia in the intervention group listen to individualized music playlists for 20 min every other day for six weeks via the self-developed Individualized Music and Dementia app. The control group receives standard care. All dyads complete paper-and-pencil questionnaires six weeks before the start of the intervention (T0), directly before the intervention (T1), directly after the intervention (T2), and six weeks later (T3). During the intervention period, all caregivers also complete daily ecological momentary assessments via the app. During three home visits, a trained project member will observe the dyads and collect hair samples. After the intervention, semi-structured interviews will be conducted to collect information about participants' experiences with the app and intervention. The primary outcome is the attainment of individual goals established during the baseline assessment. Secondary outcomes are the well-being, physiological stress and quality of life of people with dementia and their caregivers; people with dementia's behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, resistance during care, and reactions to the music; caregivers' burden of care, positive aspects of care, and caregiving self-efficacy; and the quality of the caregiver-care recipient interaction. DISCUSSION: Our study will assess the extent to which an app-based individualized music listening intervention is feasible and effective for enhancing the well-being and quality of life of people with dementia living at home and their family caregivers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00025502 and ISRCTN registry ISRCTN68084105, https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN68084105.

Sounds of Difference: A Typology of Reactions of People with Dementia to Individualized Music in the Presence of a Monitoring Person.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Despite promising effects of individualized music listening (IML) for people with dementia, the individualized nature and heterogeneity of reactions to IML remain underexplored. We aimed to develop an empirically derived typology of directly observed reactions of people with dementia to IML and propose recommendations for tailoring the intervention to the respective types. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: An ideal-type analysis was conducted on 108 video recordings of 45 people with mainly severe dementia (78% female, mean age of 83.02 years, all white participants) listening to recorded individualized music. Dimensions were identified for capturing similarities and differences between types. RESULTS: The analysis yielded 10 types of reactions ("expressing and sharing joy", "self-disclosure stimulated by music", "concentrated, absorbed listening", "blissful enjoyment", "experience of the music as bittersweet", "sharing memories", "releasing tension", "tensing up and rejecting", "predominant search for social exchange", "no interpretable reaction") and 3 dimensions ("valence" from negative to positive, "arousal" from calm to activated, "communicative activity" from defensive/ resistant to proactive), resulting in a three-dimensional coordinate system, providing a holistic representation and facilitating a systematic contrast of identified reaction types to IML. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Reactions to IML were influenced by the interaction with the project staff, who monitored the sessions. Based on these observations, we propose recommendations for tailoring both the behavior of the monitoring person (e.g., engaging in synchronous activities like clapping along) and the setup of the intervention (e.g., communal vs. individual listening) to each type, which may improve the effects of IML.

Immediate effects of individualized music listening on behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: Evidence suggests that individualized music listening (IML) can effectively reduce the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). So far, however, studies have been primarily based on questionnaire measures of BPSD completed by proxy. We therefore investigate effects of IML on BPSD based on systematic observation. We address the methodological limitations of previous observational studies by using a validated instrument, time-based sampling, and longitudinal analytical methods. METHODS: We compared BPSD of nursing home residents with dementia in an IML intervention group (IG; n = 44) and a control group (CG; n = 46) in a randomized controlled trial (DRKS00013793; ISRCTN59052178). Trained raters observed 18 BPSD in 15 four-minute intervals before, during and after an IML session. We used t-tests to compare BPSD in the IG and CG before, during and after the session and piecewise latent curve modelling to compare BPSD trajectories across 1 hour. RESULTS: BPSD were observed less frequently in the IG than in the CG during, but not before or after the session. Likewise, whereas the CG experienced a stable trajectory of BPSD, the IG experienced a u-shaped trajectory characterized by stability before the session, a decrease during the session, and increase after the session. There was significant interindividual variability in baseline BPSD and in the pre- and post-session slopes. DISCUSSION: Our results provide additional evidence that IML effectively reduces BPSD, although the effect is short-lived. As IML rarely has negative side effects, is highly accepted and easily implemented, IML should be integrated into the everyday care routines for people with dementia. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00013793; ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN59052178.