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Apathy is considered to be one of the most common symptoms of dementia and occurs when a person has a loss of motivation / interest, both generally in their everyday life and with regards to being social with others. Naturally, this is heart-breaking for families trying to support their loved ones. However, what if something as simple as music could provide some help with this?
A recent study, conducted in 2018 in China, examined the effectiveness of group music intervention on apathy. The participants were selected from a residential nursing facility that specializes in the management of dementia-related symptoms. A total of 77 participants took part after meeting the diagnostic criteria for apathy and after being diagnosed with mild to moderate dementia. To measure the effectiveness of the musical intervention, the participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group.
The intervention lasted for 12 weeks, and participants were split into groups of approximately 9 people and received a 50-minute music intervention three times a week. Each group of participants had one trained therapist who was responsible for the implementation of the music intervention, and a researcher, who recorded the participants’ emotional reactions during the intervention process.
A range of different sound stimuli were used throughout the music intervention; participants would listen to traditional music, including nostalgic songs, as well as playing musical instruments. Some of these music interventions, such as listening and singing along to nostalgic songs, were designed to help participants evoke feelings of when they were younger.
Once the 12-week intervention was completed, the results were promising; apathy scores in the intervention group were greatly reduced (though not in the control group) and, what’s more, the cognitive functioning of the intervention group remained stable throughout the 12 weeks (conversely, cognitive functioning continued to decline in the control group). These results suggest that the music intervention not only reduced the symptoms of apathy, but also slowed the development of other dementia symptoms.
Although promising, more research will be required for music interventions to be adopted more widely in this context. For example, this study only lasted for 12 weeks, which really isn’t that long at all, and there was no follow-up once the intervention was complete. Without a follow-up, we don’t know whether the positive effects of the music intervention persisted or whether they diminished shortly afterwards. Perhaps a longer intervention could result in greater, longer-lasting improvements? Unfortunately, based on this study, we can’t be sure.
Nevertheless, this study provides initial evidence that music interventions can delay the process of deterioration in the symptoms of dementia. This is important because music interventions are cost effective and less invasive than other forms of treatment. So watch this space in the coming years for more research on the positive effects of music for people suffering with dementia-induced apathy.
References
Tang, Q.,
Zhou, Y., Yang, S., Thomas, W. K. S., Smith, G. D., Yang, Z., ... & Chung,
J. W. Y. (2018). Effect of music intervention on apathy in nursing home
residents with dementia. Geriatric Nursing, 39(4),
471-476.