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Making Connections Thru Music

Making Connections Thru Music: A Group Music Therapy-Based Intervention for Persons With Dementia

Who can join

As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.

Age
18 Years to 103 Years
Sex
All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Compensation
Not stated

Other requirements are listed under Eligibility below. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.

What to expect

No one can promise a trial will help you personally — that is what the research is trying to find out.

What participation involves

Not stated in the study description — ask the study team about visits and procedures.

Compensation
Not stated
  • Study-related exams and procedures are typically provided at no cost. This is how many trials work in general — confirm the details for this study with the study team.
  • Participants are monitored closely by the research team throughout the study.
  • Some participants may receive access to an investigational treatment, which is still being studied.
  • Your participation helps researchers learn whether this approach could help future patients.

About this study

In plain language

This study tests Making Connections Thru Music, a program that trains retired volunteers to lead music and discussion sessions for people with dementia in long-term care homes. Dementia affects memory and thinking. The program uses online training and an app, and aims to help residents take part, improve their quality of life, and reduce behaviors like agitation.

Healthcare systems around the world, including within the United States, have long-established shortages of trained caregivers. The American Health Care Association states that "the health care system has experienced a shortage of trained caregivers for critical roles for some time." This scarcity directly impacts the 45,800 Long-Term Care (LTC) communities throughout the U.S. Concurrent with this staff shortage, more than half of LTC residents have some form of dementia. These two issues create a serious public health concern, since dementia is associated with a variety of behavioral expressions, such as aggression, anxiety, and agitation. Behavioral expressions of dementia can be successfully managed with the use of tailored, psychosocial interventions and communication support. Unfortunately, existing staff shortages make the facilitation of such interventions challenging. One powerful and often-overlooked approach to ameliorating staffing shortages involves the utilization of retired volunteers to facilitate interventions for persons with dementia (PWD). Based on the nearly universal love of music and a promising pilot study, the product to be developed and tested in this STTR will build upon the combined prior work of the Principal Investigators. Making Connections Thru Music (MCTM), an urgently needed product, will enable retired volunteers to facilitate an evidence-based music and discussion intervention with PWD. MCTM aims to improve engagement, enhance quality of life, and reduce behavioral expressions in PWD. The intervention will consist of two main components: (1) a comprehensive online training course for volunteers, which will provide a general overview of dementia, demonstrate effective communication strategies to use with PWD, and instruct volunteers to effectively facilitate MCTM sessions, and (2) an app containing a structured MCTM intervention protocol and toolkit, which will be the means by which volunteers facilitate MCTM. MCTM will be marketed to LTC communities.

Compensation is read from the study's own description and may be missing — always confirm with the study team.

Eligibility

Who can join

  • Volunteers must be age 55 or older and able to speak and read everyday English.
  • Staff must be age 18 or older, work at a care home in the study, and speak and read English.
  • Residents must be age 65 or older, have any type of dementia, and speak and read everyday English.
  • Residents must score at least 10 on the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), a test of memory and thinking.

Who can't join

  • Volunteers cannot join if they report having a dementia diagnosis or score 23 or lower on the MMSE. This score may show problems with memory and thinking.
  • Staff cannot join if they work only the overnight shift.
  • Residents cannot join if staff reports or screening show that their physical health or thinking skills are getting worse quickly.

Simplified for readability. The official criteria below are what the study team uses.

Official eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Volunteers must be aged 55+ and speak/read conversational English. * Staff participants must be at least 18 years old, work within a residential care facility participating in the study, and speak and read English. Exclusion Criteria: * Volunteers will be excluded if they are diagnosed with dementia based on self-report and/or if they score 23 or lower on theMini Mental State Exam (MMSE; Folstein et al., 1975). Such a score would be indicative of possible cognitive impairment. * Staff members will be excluded if they work third shift only. PWD Residents with dementia must be diagnosed with dementia (any type), score 10 or above on the MMSE, be aged 65+, and speak/read conversational English. * PWD will be excluded if they show signs of rapid physical or cognitive decline (based upon staff report or as evidenced by information gained during screening).

Study sites (2)

MA