Music therapy in geriatric care: acceptance of music therapy residential care interventions

The importance of music-based programs in geriatric facilities and for people with dementia is increasingly acknowledged. The project "Music Therapy in Geriatric Care" investigated the acceptance of a music therapy intervention catalog in five elderly care and nursing facilities in and around Heidelberg, Germany. In 2020-2021 (phase 1), due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the offer was predominantly online, in 2021-2022 (phase 2), we were able to switch back to in-person offers. Within the framework of mixed methods research, a convergent parallel design with group comparisons and interviews was employed to collect data. Results suggest a high acceptance of the music therapy service by the residents with M =9.05, SD =1.44 (2021), M =9.25 SD =1.15 (2022) on a scale from 0-10. Care and nursing staff rated the meaningfulness of music therapy higher than residents (p =.049 in phase 1; and p =.007 in phase 2). The care staff who participated in the phase 2 activities rated meaningfulness higher than the lesser involved nursing staff (p =.039) and were significantly more satisfied (p =.045). Both questionnaires and interviews suggested high meaningfulness, satisfaction, necessity and effectiveness of all music therapy interventions. Limitations, such as selection bias und bias due to social desirability, are discussed. The project was sustainable insofar as music therapy was continued to be financed in four out of five facilities after project completion