Brown to study music program for nursing center residents with dementia

In October 2018, Q&I received a National Institute on Aging award to transition from a one-year pilot to a four-year pragmatic trial of an individualized music program among persons with dementia residing in nursing centers.

This grant builds upon the team's prior work retrospectively evaluating Music & Memory, by capturing detailed data that will enable rigorous evaluation. In the R21 pilot, the team led by Drs. Vincent Mor and Ellen McCreedy refined training and implementation protocols in four nursing centers, while ensuring the feasibility of data linkage and measurement strategies.

In the R33 trial, 81 nursing centers across the US are being randomized to implement the program immediately or in one of two successive waves, while the research team evaluates the impact on resident outcomes. The combined R21/R33 was initially described in a prior article.