Abstract
Public interest in the benefits of music for people with dementia has rapidly increased in recent years. In addition to clinical work with clients, music therapists are often required to support and train staff, families, and volunteers and skill-share some music therapeutic skills. Six music therapy researchers from six countries agreed it was timely to organize a roundtable and share their indirect music therapy practice and examples of skill-sharing in dementia care. This article was developed following the roundtable at the World Congress of Music Therapy in 2017 and further discussion among the authors. This process highlighted the diversity and complexity of indirect music therapy practice and skill-sharing, but some common components emerged, including: 1) the importance of making clinical decisions about when direct music therapy is necessary and when indirect music therapy is appropriate, 2) supporting the transition from direct music therapy to indirect music therapy, 3) the value of music therapy skill-sharing in training care home staff, 4) the need for considering potential risks and burdens of indirect music therapy practice, and 5) expanding the role of music therapist and cultivating cross-professional dialogues to support organizational changes. In indirect music therapy practice, a therapist typically works with carers and supporters to strengthen their relationships with people with dementia and help them further develop their self-awareness and sense of competence. However, the ultimate goal of indirect music therapy practice in dementia care remains the wellbeing of people living with dementia.
Highlights
Background to this article iewPublic interest in the benefits of music for people with dementia has rapidly increasedOn in the recent years
If integration of “what you do” and “the way you do it” is a specific skill music therapists have, it is the responsibility of the music therapy profession to skill share with the wider dementia community in order to support the wellbeing of people with dementia
It can be argued that indirect music therapy practice and skill-sharing is not a specialized intervention or approach but something a music therapist naturally “does” out of clinical necessity
Summary
In dementia research and dementia policies, people who provide direct care (e.g. helping with activities of daily living) to people with dementia are usually divided into two groups: 1) those who are employed (paid) to provide direct care, for example nurses, care assistants, health and social care professionals, and 2) those who provide care because of their personal contacts and are not usually employed, for example family members, volunteers or close friends. The second group is usually described as families, family carers, caregivers or informal caregivers. Another term supporters is beginning to be used widely in dementia psychosocial research. For the remaining sections of this article, we will use the terms: ‘carers’ or ‘staff’ for paid caregivers and ‘supporters’ for family members, friends or volunteers who provide largely voluntary care, for consistency
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