Like a bridge over troubled water – a qualitative study of professional caregiver singing and music as a way to enable person-centred care for persons with dementia

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To describe the perspectives of caregivers in terms of using singing and music in their everyday work, and of their effect on care and interaction with the person with dementia.

Methods: A qualitative design was used, consisting of group discussions with professional caregivers from three nursing homes in a medium-sized city in a rural area of Sweden.

Results: The results demonstrate that caregiver singing and music can be powerful and useful in the care of and in communication with persons with dementia. Music, for example, can be used to facilitate socialization as it opens up for discussion, while caregiver singing was preferable when it came to the facilitation of care situations and interaction.

Conclusions: Singing and music can be powerful and useful tools in the care of and in communication with persons with dementia. Regardless of whether singing or music is used, the most important factor is that a person-centred approach is adopted so as to make the music a facilitative tool. Caregiver singing and music are ways to connect with the person with dementia and an understanding of their use can contribute to dementia research. This in turn can increase awareness of the possible ways to strengthen the partnership between caregivers and persons with dementia.

KEYWORDS:

• Caregiver singing
• dementia care
• person-centred care
• communication
• music
• qualitative method

Acknowledgments

Thank you to all participants who kindly gave us their time and shared their valuable experiences.

Contributions

Study design LMH, Data collection LMH, Data analysis AC, LMH, AS, manuscript preparation AC, LMH, AS

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anna Swall

Anna Swall is a PhD in Nursing. Dr. Swall research focusses on persons with dementia and the care around these persons. Earlier research has focused on AAT and person with dementia, as well as the relationship between persons with dementia and their spouse. Further dr. Swall is also well established in qualitative methods like, Phenomenological hermeneutics as well as Qualitative content analysis.

Lena Marmstål Hammar

Lena Marmstål Hammar is an associate professor in Nursing. Dr. Hammar’s latest research focusses on persons with dementia and their spouses and marital communication. She is currently a principal investigator in a project focussing on developing support for this group. She is also engaged in research on music and singing as nonpharmacological treatment for persons with dementia, as well as in research focussing on persons with dementia and home care service.

Åsa Gransjön Craftman

Åsa Gransjön Craftman is lecturer, PhD and researcher with interest in older people with dementia and older people living at home with support from social home care service.She is also engaged in research on home care assistants, social home care service, as well as children and young adults with a parent with dementia.