Study Shows Music Is 'Valuable' For Dementia Patients

A British study which saw dementia patients undergo music therapy resulted in improvements to their symptoms and wellbeing as well as a reduction in disruptiveness to staff at their care home.

Music therapy has long been known to help people with conditions such as dementia, as music appears to be able reach parts of the damaged brain in ways other forms of communication cannot.

Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge said their findings showed that training staff in how music can be beneficial to dementia patients could be the most effective way of managing their symptoms.

Their study took place in two care homes, with a music therapy group in each as well as a control group, which did not participate in music therapy. Both groups consisted of residents who had some form of dementia.

Participants in the intervention group received 1:1 music therapy once a week, in addition to standard care, over a period of five months.