A Randomised Feasibility Trial Examining the Use of Music Therapy Informed Strategies During Dementia Care on Professional Caregivers in Residential Aged Care Facilities

Why: MATCH is an eHealth solution, “Music Attuned Technology Care via eHealth,” developed to support carers of people living with dementia to use music intentionally to support care. It is a scalable solution for the growing number of people living with dementia. We developed the ‘MATCH Music Training Program’ as part of this package, which we will trial in a residential aged care setting in this study Materials: We will use the MATCH Music Training Program for this project. The MATCH program was developed to support carers of people living with dementia to use music intentionally to support care. There are five training modules. The modules are mood regulation, relaxation, engaging and connecting, supporting personal care and movement and exercise. Each training module contains an instructional video, three to five demonstration videos of people with dementia and their carers performing the activities, tips to optimise the implementation of the activities and scenarios of what can go wrong and how to respond. Each module will also guide the carer to create a playlist suitable to the activities being taught in each module. Suggested playlists for each module will be provided. Procedures: The intervention period is 8-weeks. Participating residential aged care facilities will be cluster randomised using block randomisation to the MATCH, MATCH+ or control group (care as usual). The MATCH intervention will include completing the MATCH training program and using the MATCH application with residents during the intervention period. The MATCH+ group will complete the MATCH training program training, use the application and have additional support from an onsite music therapist and through their multidisciplinary team. How The MATCH Music Training Program will be viewed online. Caregivers will access the MATCH training program via REDCap a secure database, which they will access via a unique participant website link which will be emailed to them upon enrolment. During the trial period, the caregivers will also have access to the training program directly from the MATCH app, which they will access via a mobile device, should they wish to review any of the instructional or demonstration videos. The MATCH training program will take 1 hour 15 minutes and will be completed within a 2-week period, directly preceding the intervention period. Upon commencing the intervention period and using the MATCH application, caregivers will be encouraged to use the application any time they determine it may be helpful for a resident to engage in a music experience. Caregivers will be asked to use the MATCH application at least 1.5 hours per week during the trial period and application analytics will be used to monitor adherence. The MATCH application allows caregivers to play personalised music playlists to support relaxation, reminiscence, movement, mood regulation and personal care routines. Residents may be offered music to listen to via speakers or headphones at different times throughout the day. The duration of the intervention, what intervention (which playlist, accompanying movement, breathing, reminiscence, or other), when to use the intervention, and intention of the intervention is determined by the caregiver based on their assessment of the resident’s needs in the moment. Only caregivers who have completed the MATCH training program will be administering the MATCH app intervention. It is predicted that caregivers will primarily use the intervention one-on-one when assisting residents with personal care, however they may choose to implement group music interventions if they deem they may be beneficial for residents. The music therapist will provide face to face support once per fortnight to participants in the MATCH+ group. The music therapist will be at the care home for up to 6 hours on one day each fortnightly and can provide support to caregivers as needed. Should caregiver participants not work full time, the music therapist will rotate the day they spend onsite to maximise the opportunities caregivers have to access this support. This may include demonstrating MATCH strategies, for example, synchronising with the rhythm of the music and selecting appropriate music to assist a resident regulate their mood. To monitor adherence to the intervention, MATCH application analytics will be monitored by the researcher. The care homes in the MATCH+ group will be encouraged to support caregivers to embed the MATCH music strategies into care. In multidisciplinary team meetings (that regularly take place at the care home in usual practice), caregivers will be encouraged to seek support from their multidisciplinary team via discussion and as needed to identify intervention needs. For example, caregivers will be encouraged to ask nurse and allied health team members perspective on when a resident may benefit from relaxation, mood regulation or other support. Where The intervention will be carried out in residential aged care facilities who support people living with dementia. Focus group interviews All caregivers from the MATCH and MATCH+ arms will be invited to participate in focus group interviews at 12-week post-baseline follow up. The focus group process will leverage dynamic interaction in a semi-structured approach to provide insight into caregiver’s experiences and opinions. In line with the explanatory design questions will be emergent and refined based on preliminary quantitative results. Up to six participants will participate in each focus group, to allow sufficient time and space for discussion and equitable participation. The focus groups will run for a planned 60-minutes and up to a maximum of 90 minutes. These groups will either be an in-person or online depending on availability. The focus group will be conducted by the graduate researcher who is also the music therapist providing support in the MATCH+ care homes. All interviews will be audio-recorded and transcribed by the graduate researcher for analysis.