Calming music and hand massage with agitated elderly

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Psychiatry
• Nursing

Background:

• Agitated behavior is a common and detrimental issue for nursing home residents.
• It significantly impacts resident well-being and increases healthcare costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of environmental modifications, specifically calming music and hand massage, on agitated behavior in individuals with dementia.
• To compare the effects of individual interventions versus a combined approach.

Main Methods:

• A repeated measures experimental design was employed with 68 nursing home residents diagnosed with dementia.
• Interventions included 10-minute exposures to calming music, hand massage, or both simultaneously, compared to a control group.
• The Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory was used to quantify agitated behaviors.

Main Results:

• All interventions (music, massage, combined) reduced overall agitation compared to the control group.
• Benefits persisted and increased for up to one hour post-intervention.
• Physically nonaggressive and verbally agitated behaviors decreased, but physically aggressive behaviors did not significantly change. No additive benefit was observed from combining music and massage.

Conclusions:

• Calming music and hand massage can effectively modify the environment for agitated nursing home residents with dementia.
• These interventions help offset disturbing stimuli, leading to reduced agitation.
• Simultaneous application of calming music and hand massage does not yield greater benefits than individual interventions.