Video Analysis of Group Music Therapy for Dementia: Intervention Delivery and Treatment Fidelity

Journal

Journal of Music Therapy

Year

2025

Abstract

In the recent multinational cluster-randomized Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression in ELderly care trial, group music therapy (GMT) was one of two music-based interventions for care home residents with dementia and depressive symptoms received for 6 months. In this study, we assessed the quality of intervention delivery and treatment fidelity of video-recorded GMT sessions. A randomly selected sample of video recordings (n = 53) from 19 music therapists across five countries were analyzed by two independent raters using a fidelity checklist. The average session duration was 40 min with four residents attending. Essential session components Introduction with welcome song (90.6%), Song singing and reminiscence (96.2%) and Closing with a farewell song (85.4%) were commonly carried out, in contrast to optional components Improvisation on instruments (69.8%) and Movement to music (37.7%). The inter-rater agreement showed an assessment of checklist items related to Song singing and reminiscence was challenging. Twelve categories of rater comments (n = 606) were identified, including: clarifying coding choices, therapist-related observations, expressing doubt in coding, and order of components. Six categories were identified for 82 significant moments described by the raters, including observations related to residents' (re)actions, interaction, music activity, music therapist, care staff, and disruption of session. Agreement between raters showed that it was feasible to provide GMT using a pre-established session structure, where music therapists could tailor session content to current needs of individual residents. Assessment of intervention delivery and treatment fidelity based on video-recorded sessions is challenging yet valuable for increasing understanding of efficacy and implementation of music-based interventions. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03496675.

Music and Health Institute Terms

Neurodegenerative Disorders; Alzheimer's and Related Dementias; Mental Health; Depression; Elderly; Music Therapy; Recreative Music Methods; Community Music Experiences; Singing a Song; Receptive Music Methods; Song Reminiscence; Improvisation; Instrumental Improvisation; Long-Term Care Facility

Indexed Terms

Elderly; dementia; Dementia; Depression; group therapy; Psychotherapy, Group; therapy; treatment; Video Recording

Study Type

Quasi-Experimental Study; Quantitative Methods

PubMed ID

PMID: 40616479

Document Type

Article

More Info

Share

COinS