Merton Music Therapy Community-based Dementia Project

The goal of this single arm interventional, pre-post study is to learn about the feasibility and impact of group music therapy sessions for people living with dementia in two different community settings. This research will answer the following questions: 1. What is the impact of the music therapy groups upon attendees (people with dementia and informal carers) and does this differ between the two settings? 2. What is the impact of the music therapy groups upon staff and culture in the settings (day centre and memory hub staff)? 3. Is it feasible to conduct the study in these two settings? (recruitment, retention, attendance, delivery, data collection) 4. What are the barriers and facilitators to implementation in each setting? Participants will attend at weekly a music therapy group for a period of 10 weeks, either at the Merton Memory Hub run by Alzheimer's Society or at Eastways Day Centre run by Merton Council (Adult Social Care). These sessions will be led by a fully qualified, HCPC registered music therapist with experience working with people living with dementia. The music programme will be designed to promote engagement, social connection, enjoyment and personal identity with the overall aim to support quality of life, emotional regulation and the relationship quality between the person living with dementia and their carer. Data collection will involve mixed methods, such as quantitative validated questionnaires about wellbeing, loneliness, relationship quality between the carer and patient. These will be asked to both the person living with dementia and the carer. The music therapist will also conduct an observational Music in Dementia Assessment Scale on the behaviour of the participants living with dementia during the music therapy sessions. Qualitative data will be a semi-structured interview of about 20-30 mins to discuss with the participants, staff included, about their experiences once the programme is finished.