Doctors Use Music Therapy to Achieve Breakthroughs in Dementia Care

Quick Summary:

• Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust piloted a music therapy project, MELODIC, on two NHS dementia wards.
• The intervention involved embedding music therapists in wards, conducting clinical music sessions, and creating individual musical care plans for patients.
• Findings published in Frontiers in Psychiatry showed slight improvements in quality-of-life scores for patients and reductions in distress symptoms. Agitation scores increased slightly during the trial.
• No adverse events or increases in reported incidents occurred during the study, which demonstrates safety for future trials.
• The intervention was co-designed by researchers, clinicians, and individuals with lived experiance through interviews with 49 stakeholders regarding distress management on dementia wards.
• MELODIC costs £2,025 per month for therapist fees plus a £400 initial investment for equipment-indicating low cost and scalability potential.
• Healthcare professionals enthusiastically embraced using music to manage patient distress more safely and compassionately compared to psychotropic medications.

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Indian opinion Analysis:

Music therapy as an alternative approach to managing severe distress among dementia patients marks progress toward compassionate care methods that minimize dependence on psychotropic medication. While this pilot study took place within the UK’s NHS system-the findings hold universal relevance due to global efforts toward improving mental health care across inpatient settings.

Should India explore similar initiatives under it’s healthcare framework or Ayushman Bharat scheme,such interventions could offer feasible solutions addressing both affordability constraints ($~2 lakh annually per ward) and caregiver support challenges prevalent here. Though, replicating success would require carefully adapting models suited to local contexts while investing thoroughly in training therapists.considering India’s ongoing strides against mental health stigma but relatively lower availability of holistic alternatives like art-based therapies-it might potentially be prudent engaging multidisciplinary research teams now active already institutions studying eldercare/dementia-linked worsening societal burdens rapidly unfolding amidst aging populations multiplying