Evidence-Based Guideline: Individualized Music in Persons with Dementia (6th Edition)

Abstract

The 6th edition of the Evidence-Based Guideline: Individualized Music for Persons with Dementia (PWD) is available as a free downloadable pdf. Individualized music corresponds to four of the Dementia Care Practice Recommendations of the Alzheimer’s Association. This guideline provides the culmination of nearly 30 years of research and clinical implementation as a nonpharmacological intervention for caregiver management of anxiety and agitation in PWD. Understanding potential causes for these behaviors is critical to the safe delivery of care. Timing of the intervention should be individualized along with the selection of music. The intervention has been empirically and clinically tested by scholars in the United States and nine other countries. In addition to reduced anxiety and agitation, PWD have shown positive affect while listening to the music. Family and staff caregivers also report that when played “free field,” individualized music is a stimulus for positive social interaction, increased feelings of caregiver satisfaction, as well as perceived improvement in the care recipient’s quality of life. The intervention is individualized at multiple levels, and is more than simply playing preferred music for the PWD. It emphasizes personhood, including the cultural and spiritual significance of music in the person’s life. Individualized music has been successfully used in home care, adult day care, assisted living, long-term care, post-acute care, and palliative care. The guideline provides a grading schema for the strength and consistency of evidence, with a step-by-step description of the intervention to insure consistency for implementation and evaluation of outcome measures. Because grandchildren can be an important component of family caregiver dynamics, basic principles of the evidence-based guideline have been translated into an illustrated story book for children and their family members. A website provides free resources for professional health care providers, family caregivers, and children.