Song-Based Intervention for Mood States for Individuals With Acquired Brain Injury and Their Caregivers: A Pilot...

Music therapy has been successfully employed with individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) for rehabilitating physical needs. However, music therapy's effects on mood states for people with ABI, and their caregivers, remain underexplored, particularly in non-Western contexts. The purpose of this pilot study was to (a) examine the effects of music therapy on mood states for both adults with ABI and their caregivers in the inpatient rehabilitation unit, and (b) examine correlations of mood changes between individuals with ABI and their caregivers. Using a pre-post-test repeated measures design, 12 pairs of participants were recruited from an inpatient rehabilitation unit in a General Hospital in Taiwan (total N = 24). Each pair of participants engaged in a song-based intervention across three 30-min song-based music therapy sessions during their intensive rehabilitation program. The Visual Analogue Mood Scale (VAMS) and the Positive Aspects of Caregiving (C-PAC) were used to measure mood states and caregiving experience. There was a significant difference in pre-post scores on the VAMS energetic subscale for individuals with ABI. Statistically significant pre-post differences were also found for caregivers on the afraid, confused, sad, and happy subscales of the VAMS. Six positive correlations were found between groups for VAMS scores. There were statistically significant differences on Q8 "Enabled me to learn new skills" of the C-PAC. The findings suggest that song-based intervention may be an effective intervention to improve mood states for both individuals with ABI and their caregivers.