Personalised music for residents with dementia in an Australian rural aged-care setting

OBJECTIVE: Personalised music reportedly has a positive effect on behaviour and mood in people living with dementia. This intervention has not been conducted in low-resourced or rural aged-care settings. We evaluated the effect of a non-therapist-led personalised music listening intervention on residents with dementia and workplace culture in a rural aged-care facility in South Australia.

DESIGN: Qualitative pilot study.

SETTING: Rural aged-care home in South Australia.

PARTICIPANTS: Ten residents with dementia and 15 aged-care staff participated in this study.

INTERVENTIONS: Ten residents participated in an 8-week music program. Four focus groups were conducted with aged-care staff post-intervention. A thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Personalised music positively influenced resident's behaviour and well-being, social interaction and the workplace environment and culture, and served as a useful tool for personalised care.

RESULTS: Three themes emerged: quality of life, personalised care and better aged-care environment. Personalised music positively influenced resident's behaviour and well-being, social interaction and the workplace environment and culture, and served as a useful tool for personalised care.

CONCLUSION: Personalised music program is an effective, low-cost intervention to improve quality of life and personalised care of residents living with dementia, staff well-being, and a workplace and culture in low-resourced or rural aged-care settings.