Music & MEmory: A Pragmatic TRial for Nursing Home Residents With ALzheimer's Disease

The purpose of this study is to conduct a pragmatic cluster randomized control trial of
personalized music (Music and Memory) for nursing home residents with moderate to severe
dementia living in 81 nursing homes from 4 nursing home corporations.

Music and Memory is a personalized music program that uses portable music players to deliver
individualized music to people with dementia. Nursing home staff provide residents with
dementia with music playlists tailored to their personal history of music preferences. The
program assumes that musical memories remain present and that personalized music can quell
the anxiety and agitation stimulated by the confusion secondary to dementia.

The aims of this study are: 1. To use a train-the-trainer model to implement the intervention
with ongoing monitoring of the program's adoption and acceptance by nursing home residents
with dementia; 2. To estimate the impact of Music and Memory on agitated and aggressive
behaviors; and 3. To examine factors associated with variation in providers' adherence to the
implementation of Music and Memory.

Inclusion Criteria for Nursing Homes:

- Owned by partnering health care corporations

- Medicare / Medicaid-certified

- Have at least 20 eligible residents

Inclusion Criteria for Residents in Eligible Nursing Homes

- Reside in eligible nursing home for last 90 days

- Have advanced dementia, defined by the presence of a dementia diagnosis and moderately
or severely impaired daily decision-making

Exclusion Criteria for Nursing Homes:

- recent situations that may affect implementation (for example, bad state or federal
quality assurance surveys, leadership turnover, or other competing demands)

- previous use of Music and Memory

Exclusion Criteria for Residents in Eligible Nursing Homes:

- dislikes music

- completely deaf