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MUSIC THERAPY RESEARCH SELECTIONS

 

Dementia/Alzheimer's

  • • Music interventions can increase quality of life and emotional well-being in adults with dementia, as well as reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms (Reschke-Hernández et al., 2023; Vink et al., 2003).
  • • Music therapy is effective in maintaining active involvement and decreasing behavioral problems in individuals with dementia (Koger et al., 1999). 

  • • Adults with neurocognitive disorder demonstrated improvements in cognitive functioning after participating in a music and movement group compared with a movement-only group (Moore & Lesiuk, 2018).

  • • After six weeks of individual music therapy, individuals with dementia demonstrated reduced levels of disruptiveness and agitation, as well as reduced medication increases (Ridder et al., 2013). 
  • • Music interventions with an adult with dementia and their spouse can enhance the quality of the spousal relationship, strengthen reciprocity, and increase caregiving satisfaction (Baker et al., 2012).

 

Parkinson's/Neurological Disorders

  • • A meta-analysis of 27 articles indicated that music therapy can benefit motor symptoms, non-motor symptoms, and quality of life for patients with Parkinson’s Disease (Garcia-Casares et al., 2018). 
  • • After participating in an 8-week group singing intervention, Parkinson’s patients saw improvements in maximum inspiratory and expiratory pressure, as well as improvements in phonation time (Stegemöller et al., 2017).
  • • Parkinson’s patients who participated in a singing group said that the group was beneficial, engaging, and fun (Stegemöller et al., 2017).
  • • Parkinson’s patients experienced statistically significantly less fatigue and exertion during a Therapeutic Instrumental Music Performance intervention than they did during a traditional occupational therapy intervention (Lim et al., 2011). 

 

Stroke/Rehabilitation

  • • The music therapy technique of Rhythmic Auditory Cueing has had positive impacts on walking velocity, cadence, and stride length in stroke patients (Yoo & Kim, 2016).
  • • Keyboard playing can significantly support hand dexterity in subacute stroke patients during rehabilitation (Hyun et al., 2017). 

  • • After participating in one month of Neurologic Music Therapy focused on language, aphasic stroke patients demonstrated significant improvements in the aphasia quotient, repetition, and naming (Lim et al., 2013).

  • • Patients with Broca’s aphasia experienced significant improvement in expressive language after participating in twelve weeks of group music therapy with a focus on singing, speech, intonation, and oral exercises (Tomaino, 2012). 
  • • Following one music therapy session, adults who experienced a first-time acute ischemic stroke showed immediate improved mood (Rushing et al., 2022).

 

Health & Wellness

  • • Music therapy can significantly reduce pain in palliative care patients (Gutsgell et al., 2013).
  • • Music has a positive effect on pain, anxiety, mood, and muscle tension among hospitalized patients (Cole & LoBiondo-Wood, 2012).
  • • Older adults who participated in several music programs reported benefits to their social relations and personal development (Solé et al., 2010).
  • • Cancer patients who received music therapy for symptom management reported that music therapy provided relaxation, a therapeutic relationship, and intrapersonal relations (Potvin et al., 2015). 

 

Anxiety & Depression

  • • Music therapy can significantly reduce depressive symptoms in older adults (Tz-Han et al., 2023; Zhao et al., 2016).
  • • Older adults who participated in a 10-week music therapy group program showed decreases in symptoms of anxiety and depression (Castelino et al., 2013).
  • • Older adults with depressive symptoms demonstrated significant decreases in negative affect and unpleasant memories after 9 music therapy sessions (Suzuki, 1998). 
  • • Older adults showed a reduction in systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and anxiety levels after 10 music therapy sessions (Lorber & Divjak, 2022).

 

Hospice/End-of-Life

  • • Hospice patients with terminal cancer who received music therapy during their time in hospice reported a statistically significant increase in quality of life after their first visit, and these scores continued to increase over time (Hilliard, 2003).
  • • Hospice patients reported an increase in spiritual well-being on days they received music therapy (Wlodarczyk, 2007).
  • • Family of hospice patients said that music therapy was beneficial for them as well as their loved ones (Gallagher et al., 2017).
  • • Just one music therapy session decreased the agitated behaviors in individuals receiving hospice care (Cadwalader et al., 2016).

 

Neurodiversity & Disabilities

  • • Direct care staff of adults with intellectual disabilities said that music therapy was beneficial for social, physical, emotional, and cognitive functioning (Wells Staab & Dvorak, 2019).
  • • After participating in music therapy sessions, adults with severe neurodiversity demonstrated more positive interactions with one another than they did before music therapy (Hooper, 2001).
  • • In a study of adults with neurodiversity, music therapy decreased the duration of maladaptive emotionally regulative behaviors more than standard treatment (Bender et al., 2011). 
  • • Music interventions can reduce stress in adults with mild intellectual disabilities (de Witte et al., 2020).
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