The impact of music in the treatment of persons with dementia

Luz Barbosa, Melissa (2023) The impact of music in the treatment of persons with dementia. Undergraduate thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

The increase in life expectancy brings with it a side effect, the increase in cases of dementia. Non-pharmacological interventions are low-cost and low-risk options to avoid overloading the health system, while providing quality of life for people with dementia, their families and caregivers. Music has been increasingly used to alleviate the symptoms of dementia. Despite being a neurodegenerative disease, dementia does not immediately affect the parts of the brain where music is perceived. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of music in the treatment of dementia.

Method: semi-structured interviews, with open-ended questions, were conducted with 12 participants: four music therapists, two academics/ music therapists, one nurse, two healthcare workers, one musician, one occupational therapist, and one PwD’s family member. The ten women and two men were from Brazil (n = 2), Denmark (n = 1) and Ireland (n = 9), and their ages ranged from 22 to 69 (M = 44.5, SD = 16.17). Thematic analsys of the interviews was conducted.

Conclusions: More than mitigate symptoms of dementia, music interventions are safe spaces for people with dementia freely express themselves, having personhood in the forefront all times.

Item Type:	Thesis (Undergraduate)
Supervisors:	Name Email Hannigan, Caoimhe UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	music interventions; safe space; self-expression
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology M Music and Books on Music > M Music R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Divisions:	School of Business > BA (Honours) in Psychology
Depositing User:	Tamara Malone
Date Deposited:	01 Jun 2023 12:41
Last Modified:	01 Jun 2023 12:41
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/6708

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