The Impact Of Music And Multi-Sensory Learning On Dementia Patients

Background Study

This proposal is based on exploring how music and multi-sensory have an impact on patients with dementia. It also aims to examine the impact of music and multi-sensory can provide benefits to these dementia patients. This study is focusing on old age people who are suffering from dementia issue and examine the understanding of how music and multi-sensory learning can benefit dementia patients to overcome their stress and anxiety on daily basis. Below presented is the first chapter of the introduction where the background study about the research matter and the reason and purpose behind conducting this study are stated.

Music can enable lifting spirits and helps in improving mood. It likewise helps in reducing nervousness, inspires positive interactions with people, and increases intellectual function. Music can enable mirroring and building a connection on the basis of emotions. In addition, mirroring means a communicative practice that reflects introducing an individual. Similarly, it may be done by a musician or resident (Baird & Thompson, 2018).

It has been found that music interventions for dementia patients are found to minimise the stress of these people and upsurge emotional well-being along with relaxation. The use of music also increases the sense of safety and minimises anxiety issues. As per the study by Ridder & Gummesen (2015), dementia patients precisely those who face difficulties in verbal communication might be at the risk of social isolation. Therefore, they required a good bonding with people or built communication in order to reduce their risks. Hence, the use of music can provide people with a source to share their intentions and emotions, especially for those who are specially required to communicate with others and they feel difficult to connect with anyone.

On the other hand, multi-sensory learning is the hypothetical situation where the person learns better if they are thinking about modality which means thinking in more than one sense. These senses are tactile, sense of movement, auditory, and visual. It simply refers to the doing, hearing, seeing, and touching of the senses those are employed in multisensory learning (Cameron et al., 2020).

Feng et al. (2018) highlighted that the approaches of multi-sensory learning are effective for treating patients with dementia because it provides adequate benefits while triggering their positive memories on daily basis and activating their emotions so that the patients can feel relaxed and the patients can concentrate on their happy memories and recall they are good past experiences. The use of a multi-sensory approach similarly improves the mood and well-being of patients especially the old ones because they are late-stage dementia patients and required stress free environment and a lack of pressure or strain in their daily routine. Henceforth, it is necessary to provide them with relaxed environment and peaceful surroundings, so that they can spend their day with full joy and happiness (Cameron et al., 2020).

This study purposes to specify the benefits of music and multi-sensory learning on dementia patients and their aspects. The study is also aiming to examine the role of music in communication and develop a conceptual framework of how music and multi-sensory learning can benefit dementia patients to overcome their stress and anxiety on daily basis. Below formed are the research objectives:

The Benefits of Music for Dementia Patients

 RO1. To examine the role of music in communication between care staff, musicians and dementia patients

 RO2. To specify the benefits of multi-sensory learning on the dementia patients

The study has formulated research questions those has to be resolved in the further dissertation:

 RQ1. What is the role of music in communication between care staff, musicians and dementia patients?

 RQ2. What are the benefits of multi-sensory learning for dementia patients?

Dementia patients are those who are suffering from brain issues and troubles. They generally lose thinking, reasoning, and remembering abilities which highly affects their personal and professional along with the change in personality (Carrion et al., 2018).

The study is focusing on old-age people who are Late-Stage Dementia patients and required stress free environment and a lack of pressure or strain in their daily routine. Hence, it is necessary to provide them with relaxed environment and peaceful surroundings, so that they can spend their day with full joy and happiness.

Music helps in reducing nervousness, inspire positive interactions with people, and increases intellectual function (Zhang et al., 2017). Likewise, multi-sensory learning helps in treating patients with dementia because it provides adequate benefits while triggering their positive memories on daily basis and activating their emotions so that the patients can feel relaxed and the patients can concentrate on their happy memories and recall they are good past experiences (Feng et al., 2018).

In accordance with this, the research is aiming to explore the benefits of music and multi-sensory learning on dementia patients and their aspects. Likewise, the study is aiming to examine the role of music in communication and develop a conceptual understanding of how music and multi-sensory learning can benefit dementia patients to overcome their stress and anxiety on daily basis.

The second section is presenting a review of key literature and they are purposes to specify the benefits of music and multi-sensory learning on dementia patients and their aspects. The study is also aiming to examine the role of music in communication and develop a conceptual framework of how music and multi-sensory learning can benefit dementia patients to overcome their stress and anxiety on daily basis.

According to Sen, Capelli, & Husain (2018), the people who are suffering from brain troubles and issues are dementia patients. They face physiological as well as personality issues which affect their lives. They generally lose thinking, reasoning, and remembering abilities which highly affects their personal and professional along with the change in personality.

 

Figure 1: Predictable number of people with dementia, by age and sex, 2011

(Source: Low et al., 2011)

Considering the study of Low et al. (2011), it has been observed that the number of dementia patients is higher in the age group of 75 to 94. These people are generally in late-stage of dementia which causes various issues like lack of memory, lack of reasoning and thinking ability, and more. As per the above graph, this issue increases as per the age and people more than 60 years are having this issue in maximum number in comparison of young ones.

The Benefits of Multi-Sensory Learning for Dementia Patients

 

Figure 2: Age-specific dementia incidence rates

(Source: Welberry et al., 2020)

The study of Welberry et al. (2020) is conducted to examine the predictable number of incidence rates of dementia using Australian administrative datasets. It also compared the characteristics of people who are examined as patients with dementia. From more than 45 studies in Australia, it has been estimated that 267,153 cases are found those are suffering from dementia issues. Mostly this issue has occurred among old age people who are more than 60 years old. In addition, 92% of the cases are among the people those are between 80 and 84 years. Also, all around the world, it has been estimated that 77% of the old age people who are more than 60 years of age generally face dementia issues.

 Music and its role in communication for dementia patients

According to Baird & Samson (2015), using a music approach or therapy for dementia patients helps in minimising the stress, pressure, and anxiety of these people, especially the old-aged ones. It is also responsible for increasing emotional well-being along with relaxation. The use of music also increases the sense of safety and minimises anxiety issues.

 

Figure 3: Feedback of participants on benefits of music therapy

(Source: Talkingdementia, 2018)

Considering the above graph, McDermott et al. (2014) highlighted that maintaining connectedness and personal identity is one of the positive impacts which helps in increasing the engagement and creativity among dementia patients. The above graph is showing that the use of music therapy helps in enhancing the mood and reveals stress and agitation. It also prolonged effects, influences these patients to enjoy their day, and increases their level of relaxation.

It has been found by the study by Baird & Thompson (2018), that music can enable lifting spirits and helps in improving the mood of dementia patients. It also allows patients to reduce their anxiety, inspires positive interactions with people, and increases intellectual function. In addition, the role of music among dementia patients helps in doing a communicative practice that reflects introducing an individual. Similarly, it may be done by a musician or resident.

Zhang et al. (2017) highlighted that demographic ageing is a phenomenon all around the world. It has been found from the results of this study that dementia focuses on subjects who are having more than 65 years of age. However, the issue of dementia can also affect people under the age of 65 years, but generally, it affects old age people. In this study, there was a piece of positive evidence found that highlights that the use of music can decrease and overcome the stress and issues of dementia patients. Music therapy is found as a first-line non-pharmacological treatment which is significant for patients with dementia.

Concerning the study of Clare et al. (2020), it has been found that live music group enables an approach of multisensory communicative culture which allows communication actions that are verbal and non-verbal. It helps in creating a good bonding with people or building communication in order to reduce their risks. Although, it is not easy to adopt such communication activities easily, hence the use of music can provide people with a source to share their intentions and emotions, especially for those who are specially required to communicate with others and they feel difficult to connect with anyone.

Research Objectives

 Multisensory approach to the patients with dementia

As per Bunn et al. (2018), it has been identified that the realist evaluation gives a comprehensible account of care is necessary for dementia patients and the multisensory approaches are effective for feasibility and triggering the feelings of patients. It helps in building the connection and engagement of patients with other people. The intervention of multisensory similarly helps in caring for the patients and providing them social and physical stimulation to support them to relax their behaviour.

Cheng, Baker & Dursun (2019) highlighted that multisensory approach are beneficial for improving the behaviour, mood, and quality of life of dementia patients who are senior citizens. Although, there is limited evidence has been available about this multisensory approach that it is highly strong and variable in use. In addition, it simply refers to the doing, hearing, seeing, and touching of the senses those are employed in multisensory learning. The study concludes that although there is a lack of evidence exist that the multisensory approach is strong, that does not mean that this approach is not efficient.

According to Maseda et al. (2018), the results indicate that multi-sensory therapy has a huge impact on the behaviour and mood of older adults. The use of multi-sensory therapy is effective for treating patients with dementia as it delivers passable assistance while triggering the positive memories of patients and activating their emotions so that the patients can feel relaxed and the patients can concentrate on their happy memories and recall they are good past experiences.

Considering the conceptual knowledge about the research matter, the study found a gap in the literature that there is a lack of studies available those are having art-based methods and provide valid and reliable data from the perspectives of patients and doctors in the same study. Therefore, the research is aiming to conduct an art-based and quantitative study in further research to fulfil this gap and acquire feasible and valid results.

 Conclusion of the Chapter

The above discussed literature is argumentative and they are providing an effective conceptual knowledge about the dementia patients and specifies the benefits of music and multi-sensory learning on dementia patients and their aspects. The above discussion has also provided a brief of the role of music in the communication of how music and multi-sensory learning can benefit dementia patients to overcome their stress and anxiety on daily basis. This will help further in understanding the background and problem which the further study has to resolve.

The below discussion is based on explaining the accurate selection of methods and techniques that are adequate for achieving the aim & objectives of the research. The below chosen methods will be chosen for further study to collect, analyse, and interpret the data and accomplish the study while addressing the research issue.

The study is based on exploring how music and multi-sensory have an impact on patients with dementia. It aims to examine the impact of music and multi-sensory can provide benefits to these dementia patients. Considering the objective and problem of the study, positivism philosophy would be suitable to attain valid and reliable outcomes. This research is aiming to conduct an experimental study for acquiring a factual understanding of the research matter and measure the data to test the hypothesis (Saunders et al., 2015).

Review of Key Literature

When it comes to the approaches, the study has to choose an effective one that can help in structuring the further methods and allows a researcher to conduct the study efficiently. With respect to the method chosen above, the study has to choose a deductive approach because it is most suitable for positivism philosophy and allows the study to measure the data and test the assumptions (Armat et al., 2018).

According to Sileyew (2019), qualitative design is adequate for collecting observational data whereas the practice of quantitative design in the research paper is used for collecting numerical data. For increasing the preciseness of this study, it would be better to use both types of research designs and gather effective as well as prominent data for presenting and analysing the results.

When it comes to the use of qualitative design, the study is aiming to use the art-based method for gaining qualitative data. This method is pragmatic in several disciplines such as education, health, and more. This study is using an art-based method for acquiring information from dementia patients while observing their visuals, personality, human actions and more to understand their situation. Similarly, the study also has to use quantitative design for collecting numerical data for measuring the hypothesis and test the variables. It requires a collection of data through a survey technique (Armat et al., 2018).

Concerning the above methods proposed for further study facilitates choosing explanatory and descriptive research methods, both in this study because it helps in presenting the data of qualitative as well as quantitative sources (Swedberg, 2020).

The use of the explanatory method is accurate for measuring the numerical data which has been gathered from the quantitative source. In addition, the use of the descriptive method is effective to present the art-based data in a descriptive manner so that the reader can understand the information (Bloomfield & Fisher, 2019). Hence, the study is proposing a primary method to test the hypothesis and analyse the data with the help of explanatory and descriptive research methods.

When it comes to the collection of data, the study will use the primary method concerning other proposed methods in this research proposal. Although, a secondary method is also accurate for collecting key literature and analysing them for understanding the impact of music and multisensory approach on dementia patients (Mkandawire, 2019). But the use of the primary method is more valid and reliable for understanding the perspective of patients as well as neurologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, or geriatricians.

For this study, the use of the non-probability self-selection sampling technique is accurate to target the participants by self (Uprichard, 2013). Following the research problem, the study is aiming to target 6 participants for an art-based study and observe their human actions. On the other hand, the study will target 50 participants who are neurologist, psychologist, psychiatrist, or geriatrician who are experts and treats patients with dementia. The researcher will target survey participants through online platforms social media and emails (Dannels, 2018).

There are two different sources that have been used for collecting data i.e., the art-based method and the survey. Both methods are of different sources, one is qualitative and another is quantitative. Hence, the study will use the statistical analysis method for presenting numerical data and testing the variables. It will present the data in the system of tables and graphs.

Additionally, the thematic/content analysis is used for presenting qualitative data which has been collected through an art-based observational method. It allows the study to use thematic codes to interpretating the data and analyse it flexibly (Tayebi Abolhasani, 2019).

This study is using primary sources for collecting responses; hence, it is the responsibility of the researcher to take care of the data and maintain its confidentiality. The study should focus on involving only those questions that will not include demographic questions like name, address, mobile number, and more which can reveal the identity of an individual (Gajjar, 2013). In addition, the study has to ensure that the university guidelines are followed like no plagiarism, no copyright issues, citations and references are included and more.

According to the proposal discussed above, it can be expected that music will be found as the most effective technique which can reduce the nervousness and stress of patients with dementia and inspires them to interact with people and increases their intellectual function. Moreover, the study will find the benefits of music listening as it helps in minimizing the stress of these people and upsurges emotional well-being along with relaxation. The use of music also increases the sense of safety and minimises anxiety issues (Baird & Thompson, 2018).

On the other side, the use of the multi-sensory approach will be found as effective for dementia patients because they provide adequate benefits while triggering their positive memories on daily basis and activating their emotions so that the patients can feel relaxed and the patients can concentrate on their happy memories and recall they are good past experiences (Feng et al., 2018).

Moving towards the selection of methods which has been proposed for further study will help the study to obtain valid, reliable, and credible findings and resolve the research concern. In the methodology, the study has chosen the deductive approach because it is most suitable for positivism philosophy and allows the study to measure the data and test the assumptions (Armat et al., 2018). In addition, both types of research designs are proposed for presenting and analysing the results. The qualitative design will use the art-based method for gaining observational data and the use of quantitative design will gather collecting numerical data for measuring the hypothesis and testing the variables (Mkandawire, 2019).

Likewise, in this study, it has been proposed to target 6 participants for an art-based study and observe their human actions. On the other hand, the study will target 50 participants who are neurologist, psychologist, psychiatrist, or geriatrician who are experts and treats patients with dementia. These participants are adequate for understanding the perspective of patients as well as doctors so that it would be easy to understand the role of music and multisensory approach in benefitting the dementia patients.

 Conclusion

The above proposal of research concludes that all these methods and data can be used further to conduct the study because they are effectively discussed while considering the research issue. Applying these above discussed methods such as positivism philosophy, deductive approach, art-based and quantitative method, primary data collection, survey, and more to understand the role of music and multisensory approach in benefitting the dementia patients. Hence, the participants are patients and doctors for making this study more precise and feasible.

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