Music interventions provided by qualified therapists within residential aged care are effective at attenuating behavioural and psychological symptoms (BPSD) of people with dementia (PwD). The impact of music interventions on dementia symptom management when provided by family caregivers is unclear. We implemented a community-based, large, pragmatic, international, superiority, single-masked randomised controlled trial to evaluate if caregiver-delivered music was superior to usual care alone (UC) on reducing BPSD of PwD measured by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire (NPI-Q). The study included an active control (reading). People with dementia (NPI-Q score ≥6) and their caregiver (dyads) from one of five countries were randomly allocated to caregiver-delivered music, reading, or UC with a 1:1:1 allocation stratified by site. Caregivers received three online protocolised music or reading training sessions delivered by therapists and were recommended to provide five 30-min reading or music activities per week (minimum twice weekly) over 90-days. The NPI-Q severity assessment of PwD was completed online by masked assessors at baseline, 90- (primary) and 180-days post-randomisation and analysed on an intention-to-treat basis using a likelihood-based longitudinal data analysis model. ACTRN12618001799246; ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03907748. Between 27th November 2019 and 7th July 2022, we randomised 432 eligible of 805 screened dyads (music n = 143, reading n = 144, UC n = 145). There was no statistical or clinically important difference in the change from baseline BPSD between caregiver-delivered music (−0.15, 95% CI −1.41 to 1.10, p = 0.81) or reading (−1.12, 95% CI −2.38 to 0.14, p = 0.082) and UC alone at 90-days. No related adverse events occurred. Our findings suggested that music interventions and reading interventions delivered by trained caregivers in community contexts do not decrease enduring BPSD symptoms. Our funding was provided by 10.13039/501100000925 National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia ; The Research Council of Norway; 10.13039/501100002347 Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany ; 10.13039/501100005632 National Centre for Research and Development, Poland ; 10.13039/501100017506 Alzheimer’s Society, UK , as part of the Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Diseases consortia scheme.

Background: The number of people living with dementia (PwD) worldwide is expected to double every 20 years. Many continue living at home, receiving support from family caregivers who may experience significant stress, simultaneously to that of the PwD. Meaningful and effective home-based interventions to support PwD and their caregivers are needed. The development of a theory- and practice-driven online home-based music intervention (MI) is delivered by credentialed music therapists, nested within the HOMESIDE RCT trial. Methods: Dyads including the PwD and their family carer are randomised to MI, reading (RI) or standard care (SC). MI aims to support health wellbeing and quality of life by training caregivers to intentionally use music (singing, instrument playing, movement/dancing, and music listening) with their family member (PwD) in daily routines. MI is underpinned by cognitive, relational, social, and psychological theories of mechanisms of change. Results: Preliminary sub-cohort results analyses show MI can be delivered and is accepted well by participants and music-therapist interventionists across five countries. Conclusions: The specialist skills of a music therapist through MI enable carers to access music when music therapists are not present, to meet carer and PwD needs. Music therapists embrace this changing professional role, observing therapeutic change for members of the dyads.

While studies have identified strategies that are useful for recruiting people living with dementia, none have focused on psychosocial interventions involving arts therapies, or have examined the profiles of older people living in the community who consent or decline participation, particularly during a global pandemic. We aimed to identify the most effective recruitment strategies according to participant characteristics and transnational differences and develop a profile of consenting and non-consenting participants. Recruitment teams in Australia, Norway, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom, recorded participants' source of study awareness and characteristics of consenting and non-consenting participants. Distributions of participants 'consenting to participate' were compared and logistic regressions were used to estimate the odds ratios. Consenting female caregivers were disproportionally represented. Study awareness differed between countries but overall, most expressions of interest to participate were derived from referrals from professionals or organisations, or from databases of people wanting to participate in research. Troughs in recruitment rates occurred during Northern Hemisphere summer vacation periods, and during Christmas periods. This study found that recruiting for a trial with community-dwelling family caregivers and people living with dementia is challenging, especially during a global pandemic. While spousal caregivers comprised the highest proportion of dyads recruited, overall spousal caregivers were more reluctant to consent to participate than adult child caregivers. More targeted recruitment strategies designed for minority groups are also needed to ensure broader representation in dementia treatment studies.

Music interventions support functional outcomes, improve mood, and reduce symptoms of depression in neurorehabilitation. Neurologic music therapy (NMT) has been reported as feasible and helpful in stroke rehabilitation but is not commonly part of multidisciplinary services in acute or subacute settings. This study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of delivering NMT one-day-per-week in a subacute neurorehabilitation centre over 15 months. Data were collected on the number of referrals, who referred, sessions offered, attended, and declined, and reasons why. Staff, patients, and their relatives completed questionnaires rating the interventions. Patients completed the Visual Analog Mood Scales (VAMS) pre and post a single session. Forty-nine patients received 318 NMT sessions (83% of sessions offered). NMT was rated as helpful or very helpful as part of the multidisciplinary team (n = 36). The highest ratings were for concentration, arm and hand rehabilitation, and motivation and mood. VAMS scores (n = 24) showed a reduction in ‘confused’ (−8.6, p = 0.035, effect size 0.49) and an increase in ‘happy’ (6.5, p = 0.021, effect size = 0.12) post NMT. The data suggest that a one-day-per-week NMT post in subacute neurorehabilitation was feasible, acceptable, and helpful, supporting patient engagement in rehabilitation exercises, mood, and motivation.

Dementia and depression are among the leading causes of global disease burden. Effective and scalable interventions are needed to address the effect of these conditions, and music interventions are a promising non-pharmacological approach. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of music interventions on depressive symptoms among care home residents with dementia in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Türkiye, and the UK. Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression in Elderly care was a large, multinational, cluster-randomised controlled trial with a 2 × 2 factorial design to examine the effects of group music therapy, recreational choir singing, or both compared with standard care. The trial was done in 86 care home units across Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Türkiye, and the UK. Care home units were required to host at least ten residents who met the inclusion criteria. Participants were required to be aged 65 years or older; a full-time resident in a participating care home unit; have dementia as indicated by a Clinical Dementia Rating score of 0·5-3 and a Mini-Mental State Examination score of 26 or less; have mild depressive symptoms as indicated by a Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score of at least 8; and a clinical diagnosis of dementia. Care home units with residents with dementia and depressive symptoms were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1; block randomisation stratified by site, using a computer-generated list) to group music therapy, recreational choir singing, a combination of these strategies, or standard care. The primary outcome was MADRS assessed at 6 months in the intention-to-treat population, which included all participants with available data. Assessors were masked but care staff, intervention providers, and residents were not masked due to the nature of the intervention. Intervention effects were analysed with ANCOVA for the total sample and per country. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03496675, and is completed. Between July 18, 2018, and Feb 1, 2023, 86 care home units with 1021 residents were enrolled and randomly assigned to one of the four groups. 22 care home units with 258 residents were randomly assigned to group music therapy, 22 care home units with 281 residents were allocated to recreational choir singing, 21 care home units with 244 residents were assigned to a combination of both group music therapy and recreational choir singing, and 21 care home units with 238 residents were assigned to standard care. The mean age of residents was 85·6 years (SD 7·4); most residents (747 [73·2%]) were female and 274 (26·8%) were male. Intention-to-treat analysis of 751 residents with data at 6 months showed no significant effect on MADRS scores of either recreational choir singing versus no recreational choir singing (β 0·4 [95% CI -1·3 to 2·1]; p=0·68), group music therapy versus no group music therapy (β 0·8 [-1·0 to 2·6]; p=0·37), or the interaction between recreational choir singing and group music therapy (β -0·6 [-3·1 to 1·9], p=0·63; β represents mean difference estimated from ANCOVA). Effects varied between countries. No related adverse events were reported and acute medical hospital admission rates were similar across groups at 3 months and 6 months. Internationally, active group music interventions as conducted in this study do not reduce depressive symptoms more than standard care in the long term. Country was the strongest predictor for differences in effects, underlining the importance of cultural and systemic differences. Intervention guidelines and health-care policies need to be carefully tailored to the specific contexts of care home populations and levels of care. Future multisite trials should focus on more narrowly defined target groups or contexts to reduce the risk of heterogeneity overshadowing potential effects of interventions. Although music interventions might be beneficial for people with dementia, there is a need to harmonise their implementation and investigate the mechanisms through which they work. EU Joint Programme - Neurodegenerative Disease Research, and National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia.