Learning to use music as a resource: the experiences of people with dementia and their family care partners participating in a home-based skill-sharing music intervention: a HOMESIDE sub-study

Kate McMahon; Katrina McFerran; Imogen N Clark; Helen Odell-Miller; Karette Stensæth; Jeanette Tamplin; Felicity A Baker

doi:10.3389/fmed.2023.1205784

Learning to use music as a resource: the experiences of people with dementia and their family care partners participating in a home-based skill-sharing music intervention: a HOMESIDE sub-study

Front Med (Lausanne). 2023 May 18:10:1205784. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1205784. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kate McMahon¹, Katrina McFerran¹, Imogen N Clark¹, Helen Odell-Miller², Karette Stensæth³, Jeanette Tamplin¹, Felicity A Baker^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
² Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
³ Centre for Research in Music and Health, Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo, Norway.

Abstract

An increasing number of people with dementia receive informal care from family members to help them remain living in the community. Music therapy is particularly beneficial for supporting the wellbeing of people living with dementia. However, little is known about how music therapy might support people with dementia and their family care partners as dyads. This study explored the experiences of six dyads participating in a 12-week home-based skill-sharing music intervention facilitated by a music therapist. We examined their experiences during the intervention period and in the 3-6 months following. This study was conducted within a larger randomised control trial, HOMESIDE. Data was collected through video-recorded music-based interviews, participant diaries, and a semi-structured interview. Data was analysed using an abductive and relational-centred research approach in consideration of the Contextual Connection Model of Health Musicking for People Living with Dementia and Their Family Care Partners. The study found fifteen themes that describe dyads' supported experiences of sharing music in their homes. These were organised into three global themes: (1) experiences were shaped by complex influences; (2) a connected musical ecosystem; and (3) music was a resource for wellbeing. This study highlighted the important role of personalised facilitation and the therapeutic relationship as dyads learned to use music as a resource through a process of trial and error. The implications for skill-sharing, indirect music therapy and direct music therapy practice are discussed.

Keywords: caregiving dyad; dementia; family care partner; family caregiver; indirect music therapy; living in the community; music therapy; skill-sharing.