Everyday Uses of Music Listening and Music Technologies by Caregivers and People with Dementia: Survey and Focus Group Study

Music is a valuable non-pharmacological tool that provides benefits for people with dementia, and there is interest in designing technologies to support music use in dementia care. To ensure music technologies are appropriately designed for supporting caregivers and people living with dementia, there remains a need to better understand how music is currently used in everyday care at home. We aimed to understand how people with dementia and their caregivers use music technologies in everyday caring, as well as challenges they experience using music and technology. This study used a mixed methods design. A survey was completed by 77 caregivers and people with dementia to understand their use of music and technology. Of these, 18 survey respondents (12 family caregivers, 6 people living with dementia) participated in focus groups about their experiences of using music and technology in care. Transcripts were analysed with reflexive thematic analysis. Most survey respondents used music often in their daily lives, reporting a range of music technologies such as CDs, radio, and streaming. Focus groups highlighted benefits and challenges of music technologies in everyday care. Participants used music and music technologies to regulate mood, provide joy, facilitate social connection, encourage reminiscence, provide continuity before and after diagnosis, and to make caregiving easier. Challenges of using music technology in care included difficulties staying up to date with evolving technology, and low self-efficacy for technology use expressed by people living with dementia. Evidently, people living with dementia and their caregivers use music technologies to support their everyday care needs. Results suggest opportunities to design technologies enabling easier access to music and supporting people living with dementia with recreational and therapeutic music listening and music-based activities.