Influence of Dinner Music on Food Intake and Symptoms Common in Dementia

Abstract

The influence of dinner music on food intake and symptoms common in dementia such as depressed mood, irritability and restlessness was studied. The study was carried out in a nursing-home ward in Sweden. Soothing music was played as dinner music for weeks, Swedish tunes form the 1920s and 1930s for two weeks and pop music for two weeks. Prior to these periods, there was one week without music, and at the end of the intervention there was a two-week control period. The effects of the intervention were assessed by psychological ratings and by weighing the food helpings. It was found that during all three music periods the patients ate more in total. The difference was particularly significant for the dessert. The staff were thought to be influenced by the music, as they served the patients more food, both main course and dessert, whenever music was played. The patients were less irritable, anxious and depressed during the music periods. The results of the study suggest that dinner music, particularly soothing music, can reduce irritability, fear-panic and depressed mood and can stimulate demented patients in a nursing-home ward into eating more.

Humming as a means of communicating during mealtime situations: A single case study involving a woman with severe dementia and her caregiver

“…This was also shown in a study by Ragneskog et al [15] focusing on eating while listening to music. Maybe the humming could be regarded as music to listen to.…”

“…Music has been shown to have a positive influence on persons with dementia during music therapy and during music listening [13,14] , and during mealtime music listening has seemed to improve appetite [15] . Studies that have focused on morning care situations have shown that when the caregiver sings for or together with persons with dementia, so called Music Therapeutic caregiving [MTC] [16] , the persons with dementia appear relaxed [15,[17][18][19] , self-confident [17,18,20] , and are more active during the caring activity [19,21] .…”

“…Studies that have focused on morning care situations have shown that when the caregiver sings for or together with persons with dementia, so called Music Therapeutic caregiving [MTC] [16] , the persons with dementia appear relaxed [15,[17][18][19] , self-confident [17,18,20] , and are more active during the caring activity [19,21] . It has also been shown that persons with dementia' communication is enhanced [22,23] , and communication and cooperation between persons with dementia and caregivers is easier to achieve [22,23] .…”

Psychosocial treatments of behavior symptoms in dementia: a systematic review of reports meeting quality standards

“…Agitated behaviors responded better to individually tailored music than "classical relaxation music" (Gerdner, 2000) and aggression declined significantly when participants' preferred music was played during bath times (Thomas et al, 1997;Clark et al, 1998). "Off the shelf" music, by contrast, worked no better than hand massage (Remington et al, 2002), book readings (Groene, 1993) or mealtimes without music (Ragneskog et al, 1996). Tailoring music to individuals' preferences is clearly important.…”

Practice parameter: Management of dementia (an evidence-based review) [RETIRED]

“…Music (of the patient's preference) 124 reduced agitation, aggression, and mood disturbance under various conditions including eating and bathing. [125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132] One-on-one social interaction or videotapes of family members reduced verbally disruptive behaviors more than music. 127 However, there are conflicting preliminary reports of the benefits of using familiar audiotaped voices (simulated presence therapy) in improving mood, aggression, and agitation.…”