Evidence-Based Guideline: Individualized Music for Persons with Dementia (7th Edition) — Non-Pharmacological Intervention for Agitation

Abstract

Individualized music is a non-pharmacological intervention for the management of agitation in persons with dementia. It is supported by the Middle-Range Theory of Individualized Music Intervention for Agitation (IMIA), including testable propositions. The Evidence-Based Guideline: Individualized Music for Persons with Dementia (PWD) was originally published in 1996, has recently been updated and is now in its 7th edition. The current edition is 81 pages in length and includes 144 references. This guideline provides the culmination of over 30 years of research and clinical implementation. 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 in implementation and evaluation of outcome measures. The intervention is individualized at multiple levels, and is more than simply playing preferred music for the PWD. The intervention emphasizes personhood by including the role of music in the person’s life prior to the onset of cognitive impairment. This includes the role of music in the person’s ethnic identity and religious practice. The intervention has been empirically and clinically tested by scholars in an expanding number of countries. Individualized music is versatile and has been successfully used in home care, adult day care, assisted living, longterm care, post-acute care, and palliative care. As with previous editions, the 7th edition is available, along with all supporting documents and forms, as a free downloadable pdf.