Individualized Music Program is Associated with Improved Outcomes for U.S. Nursing Home Residents with Dementia

A 2017 study by Brown University, published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, compares behavioral and psychological resident outcomes before and after implementation of the Music & Memory program. Ninety-eight nursing homes trained in Music & Memory were studied along with 98 matched-pair comparisons for the year 2012-2013. The results show that discontinuation of antipsychotic medications increased in Music & Memory facilities (23.5% to 24.4%), while decreasing among comparison facilities (24.8% to 20.0%). Facilities using Music & Memory also demonstrated increased rates of reduction in behavioral problems (50.9% to 56.5%) versus comparison facilities (55.8% to 55.9%). Implication for practice concluded that “effective, non-medicalized, low-cost interventions such as Music & Memory, are critical to address the needs of the growing ADRD population.” Read more.