Online Support Program for the Use of Music-Based Resources for Daily Care for Families Living with Dementia

Abstract

Abstract This pilot project presents the results of a program aimed at studying the effectiveness of an online music therapy intervention to contribute and promote the autonomy and integral well-being of people living with dementia (PLD) and their family caregivers (FC) within the framework of Person-Centered Care. In addition, it aims to evaluate the impact of this intervention in selected areas of PLD and on their neuropsychiatric symptoms as well as the caregivers’ stress-related symptoms. The program was carried out with 13 families associated with 3 Alzheimer’s Family Associations of Catalonia (Spain). The intervention consisted of three online sessions, in a period of 3 months. It was addressed to FC and PLD with the key participation of three volunteers recruited by each of the Alzheimer Association for this purpose. The volunteers accompanied and gave in person support to each family during the online sessions and maintained contact on a weekly basis with the families throughout all the process. The music therapists developed personalized music resources for each family to use at home as often as possible and implemented the three online sessions to evaluate and modify the resources as needed. The results of the Neuropsychological Inventory show pre–posttest improvements in apathy, irritability, and agitation in the PLD and a decrease in the caregivers’ perceived stress for each of these challenging behaviors. Also, the caregivers perceived the positive impact of the program in several areas through the Impact Areas Questionnaire, with the highest being the facilitation of communication, offering distraction/entertainment, and providing a positive/creative experience. These results are discussed, and suggestions for future improvements to the program are included.