Summary: A new study highlights how music therapy can help ease severe distress in dementia patients on hospital wards. The MELODIC approach embeds a music therapist to deliver sessions and create personalized musical care plans for patients.
Results showed improved quality of life and reduced distress, with no adverse effects reported. This low-cost, scalable intervention offers a compassionate alternative to psychotropic medication.
Key Facts:
- Improved Wellbeing: Music therapy slightly improved quality of life and reduced distress in dementia patients.
- Low-Cost Solution: The intervention costs just over £2,000 per month, making it affordable and scalable.
- Safe and Effective: No adverse events were linked to music therapy, showing its safety in complex care settings.
Source: Anglia Ruskin University
A new treatment that uses music therapy on dementia wards could improve care and support for some of the NHS’s most vulnerable patients.
Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust have piloted a music therapy approach called MELODIC, across two NHS dementia wards.
More alternatives to psychotropic medication are needed to support dementia patients who experience severe distress.
The pilot study involved a music therapist being embedded on hospital wards, the delivery of clinical music sessions and the implementation of musical care plans for each patient, and results from the research have now been published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.
Music therapy, delivered by trained therapists, can include singing, playing or listening to music. The therapist can also identify specific ways that music can be used by families and carers in an individual’s daily care routine.
During the study, patient data suggested a slight improvement in quality-of-life scores among patients and a reduction in the severity of distress symptoms and disruptiveness, although agitation scores increased slightly.
There were no increases in routinely reported incidents, and no adverse events related to music therapy interventions were reported. This is relevant for future research on mental health dementia wards where limited studies have been conducted to date.
Lead author Naomi Thompson, a researcher at the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said: “People with dementia on inpatient mental health wards are often experiencing very high levels of distress, and staff are under immense pressure to manage this in ways that are safe and compassionate.
“Our study yielded promising results and importantly showed that the MELODIC tool can be used effectively in these highly complex settings, giving an alternative option to current ways of managing severe distress, such as psychotropic medication.”
The approach was shaped by interviews with 49 healthcare professionals, patients, and their families about their experiences managing distress on dementia wards and using music in everyday care and life to help develop the intervention, with findings published in the Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Importantly, the intervention – which has been co-designed by clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience – cost just £2,025 per month for the therapist and £400 initial outlay for equipment, suggesting a low-cost, scalable model.
Dr Ben Underwood, Research and Development Director and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at CPFT said: “Some people with dementia can get so confused and distressed that we need to admit them to hospital to keep them safe. It can be difficult to manage distress in a ward environment and hard for patients, families and staff.
“I am very excited that it may now be possible for NHS staff to improve their experience on dementia wards using the power of music, and we look forward to working with ARU to develop this further.”
The current study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and is published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.
About this music and dementia research news
Author: Jamie Forsyth
Source: Anglia Ruskin University
Contact: Jamie Forsyth – Anglia Ruskin University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Music therapy Embedded in the Life Of Dementia Inpatient Care (MELODIC) to help prevent and manage distress: a feasibility study to inform a future trial” by Naomi Thompson et al. Frontiers in Psychiatry
Abstract
Music therapy Embedded in the Life Of Dementia Inpatient Care (MELODIC) to help prevent and manage distress: a feasibility study to inform a future trial
Introduction: Mental health dementia wards in the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK provide specialist care for people with dementia experiencing acute levels of distress. There is little research into these settings, but music therapy may reduce distress in the short term.
This co-designed, complex intervention development study aimed to test the feasibility of delivering a standardised music therapy protocol (MELODIC: Music therapy Embedded in the Life Of Dementia Inpatient Care) on these wards and the suitability of the research methods.
Methods: The MELODIC intervention aims to support the personalised use of music to prevent and manage distress through: 1) embedding a music therapist in the multidisciplinary team, 2) delivering clinical music therapy sessions, 3) developing musical care plans for each patient, 4) and training and support for staff and families to implement care plans. Two NHS mental health dementia wards with differing experience of music therapy were recruited purposively.
All patients, families and staff were eligible to participate subject to written consent. The intervention was delivered over four weeks. The interventionist kept a diary recording all interactions with patients, staff and families to measure treatment adherence.
Questionnaires reporting patient, family and staff outcomes were collected twice before and twice after intervention delivery. Routinely collected data were gathered and interviews conducted post-intervention.
Results: The MELODIC intervention was acceptable with high levels of treatment adherence. The research methods were feasible with recruitment targets met (including 28 patients, 13 family members, 48 staff members) and all requested data collected with high levels of data completeness.
Quantitative data showed no increase in distress symptoms or reported safety incidents during the intervention period. Interventionist diaries and qualitative data supported intervention refinement.
Conclusion: In a highly complex setting caring for some of the most vulnerable patients in the NHS it was possible to co-design and deliver a novel music therapy intervention. The research methods were feasible and acceptable. This protocolised intervention should be tested for clinical effectiveness in a controlled trial.
Registration: ISRCTN86317609
