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Merton Music Therapy Community-based Dementia Project

NCT07701044 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 28

Last updated 2026-07-29

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The goal of this single arm interventional, pre-post study is to learn about the feasibility and impact of group music therapy sessions for people living with dementia in two different community settings.

This research will answer the following questions:

1. What is the impact of the music therapy groups upon attendees (people with dementia and informal carers) and does this differ between the two settings?
2. What is the impact of the music therapy groups upon staff and culture in the settings (day centre and memory hub staff)?
3. Is it feasible to conduct the study in these two settings? (recruitment, retention, attendance, delivery, data collection)
4. What are the barriers and facilitators to implementation in each setting?

Participants will attend at weekly a music therapy group for a period of 10 weeks, either at the Merton Memory Hub run by Alzheimer's Society or at Eastways Day Centre run by Merton Council (Adult Social Care). These sessions will be led by a fully qualified, HCPC registered music therapist with experience working with people living with dementia. The music programme will be designed to promote engagement, social connection, enjoyment and personal identity with the overall aim to support quality of life, emotional regulation and the relationship quality between the person living with dementia and their carer.

Data collection will involve mixed methods, such as quantitative validated questionnaires about wellbeing, loneliness, relationship quality between the carer and patient. These will be asked to both the person living with dementia and the carer. The music therapist will also conduct an observational Music in Dementia Assessment Scale on the behaviour of the participants living with dementia during the music therapy sessions. Qualitative data will be a semi-structured interview of about 20-30 mins to discuss with the participants, staff included, about their experiences once the programme is finished.

Conditions

  • Dementia (Diagnosis)

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Group Music Therapy

The music therapy sessions in this study will be delivered by a fully qualified, HCPC registered music therapist with experience in working with people with dementia. The 10-week programme will include accessible musical resources and activities which participants can integrate into their daily lives, allowing the benefits of music therapy to be sustained longer-term, and potentially beyond the duration of the intervention itself. Session activities will include some combination of the following: singing familiar songs, receptive music listening, improvised music making, music-based games (such as rhythmic copying or turn taking), movement to music, and songwriting, as well as time for sharing, discussion and reflection.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • London Borough of Merton Council

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • Anglia Ruskin University

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-10-01
Primary Completion
2026-12-01
Completion
2026-12-31

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07701044 on ClinicalTrials.gov