Providing music therapy for people with dementia in an acute mental health setting
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Providing music therapy for people with dementia in an acute mental health setting

Leah Drewitt Trainee clinical psychologist, School of Psychological, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Coventry University, Coventry, England
Kate Martin Principle clinical psychologist, Coventry and Warwick Partnership NHS Trust, Coventry, England
Chris Atkinson Lead music therapist, Coventry and Warwick Partnership NHS Trust, Coventry, England
Magdalena Marczak Lecturer, School of Health, Coventry University, Coventry, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To enhance your knowledge of the benefits of music therapy for people with dementia

  • To understand how music therapy can be provided in acute mental health settings

  • To learn about a new tool for measuring the effectiveness of music therapy in people with dementia

As global figures for dementia are set to rise significantly, there has been a shift towards using non-pharmacological interventions such as music therapy to enhance the quality of life for people with the condition. Research into music therapy interventions for this patient group in acute mental health inpatient settings, however, is limited. This article describes a service evaluation that explored whether group music therapy was effective for people with dementia in such settings. Open group music therapy sessions were hosted weekly in two acute wards and the researchers examined the social and behavioural outcomes of participants pre and post-intervention. The results indicated that music therapy significantly improved patient outcomes following participation. The outcome measure developed for this service evaluation was found to be a reliable tool for measuring the effectiveness of music therapy on patient outcomes.

Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2022.e11796

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

Magdalena.Marczak@coventry.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Drewitt L, Martin K, Atkinson C et al (2022) Providing music therapy for people with dementia in an acute mental health setting. Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2022.e11796

Published online: 25 April 2022

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