Live and recorded group music interventions with active participation for people with dementias: a systematic review

Background: This literature review examined the existing evidence base for the impact of both live and recorded music interventions involving active participation in a dementia population. Methodology: PsycINFO, Medline, CINAHL, Web of Science, PubMed and Cochrane Library were searched and 15 studies met inclusion criteria. Results: There was a positive impact on behavioural and psychological symptoms, quality of life, communication and some aspects of cognitive function; methodological limitations, however, make it difficult to offer firm conclusions. Interventions using recorded music resulted in more consistent positive behavioural and psychological outcomes, whereas interventions using live music reported a benefit to communication and relationships. Conclusions: Although live and recorded music showed benefits, and should be considered in dementia care, the use of different outcome measures made definitive comparisons problematic. In order to better understand mechanisms of change, one future research area should explore how group music interventions affect communication by more closely assessing processes during live and recorded music

Using music to develop a multisensory communicative environment for people with late stage dementia

Background and Objectives: Research has indicated the benefit of music interventions on biological, psychological and cognitive aspects of dementias, yet there is limited research focusing on music’s role in communication. This study developed a conceptual understanding of how people with late stage dementia may express themselves non-verbally and interact with others during a live music group over time. Research Design and Methods: Eight people with advanced dementias in residential care (aged 82-97), four care staff and three musicians participated in eight hour-long weekly live Music for Life sessions and listened to one hour-long recorded music session. Visual grounded theory was used to analyse video data collected non-intrusively via the Fly 360-degree camera. Results: The live music group facilitated a multisensory communicative environment allowing for verbal and non-verbal communicative actions, social interactional components and agency to develop over time. These aspects were influenced by three factors: time, one-to-one interaction within a group setting and the characteristics of the music. Discussion and Implications: Non-verbal communication in later-stage dementia may be overlooked or underestimated by busy care staff and families.Using music as an interactive way to communicate can help develop mirroring and turn taking which has been shown to improve quality of life for people with communication impairment, increase their non-verbal communication and allow for a connection to be built between people. Although further research is recommended, individuals responsible for residential care should feel confident that the development of ongoing music groups for this population is warranted as part of ongoing care

Resounding meaning: a PERMA wellbeing profile of classical musicians

While music has been linked with enhanced wellbeing across a wide variety of contexts, the professional pursuit of a music career is frequently associated with poor psychological health. Most research has focused on assessing negative functioning, and to date, few studies have attempted to profile musicians’ wellbeing using a positive framework. This study aimed to generate a profile that represents indicators of optimal functioning among classical musicians. The PERMA model, which reconciles hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing, was adopted and its five elements assessed with a sample of professional classical musicians: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. 601 participants (298 women, 303 men) engaged in careers as orchestral (n = 236), solo (n = 158), chamber (n = 112), and choral musicians (n = 36), as well as composers (n = 30) and conductors (n = 29), answered the PERMA-Profiler, a self-report questionnaire built to assess the five components of PERMA. Results point to high scores across all dimensions, with Meaning emerging as the highest rated dimension. Musicians scored significantly higher than general population indicators on Positive Emotion, Relationships and Meaning. When wellbeing is assessed as positive functioning and not the absence of illbeing, musicians show promising profiles. The reconciliation between these findings and the previous body of research pointing to the music profession as highly challenging for healthy psychological functioning is discussed. *** For a video summary of this article please see http://researchonline.rcm.ac.uk/id/eprint/1804/ **

A review of the effect of music on dental anxiety in children

Aim: To review the current literature on the effectiveness of using music as an intervention to reduce dental anxiety in children. Methods: At the University of Leeds, the School of Music and the School of Dentistry collaborated to conduct an online search strategy. The Cochrane Library and Medline databases were used to find the current available evidence. Results: Systematic reviews and clinical trial studies as well as cohort studies containing pertinent information on the effect of music on anxiety in the clinical setting were reviewed. The literature showed that music can have a biological and psychological impact on emotion and consequently has been used effectively as an aid to moderate anxiety in the clinical setting. With regard to paediatric dentistry, majority of studies were found to support the use of music in reducing dental anxiety in children, however several additional studies showed that music did not significantly reduce the children’s dental anxiety. The studies employed a number of methods to measure dental anxiety including the Venham’s Picture Test, the Venham’s clinical anxiety rating scale and pulse oximetry. They also used a range of music types; some studies allowed for patient self-selection of music whereas others dictated the music the children listened to. Conclusions: There is an increasing body of evidence to support the use of music to moderate anxiety within the clinical setting in both medicine and dentistry. However, the current evidence for the effectiveness of using music to reduce dental anxiety in children is inconclusive and of limited quality