Calming Music and Hand Massage With Agitated Elderly

Calming Music and Hand Massage With Agitated Elderly

Introduction

The paper discusses the findings of this study where calming music and hand massage was used with agitated elderly. The paper discusses how these experimental interventions using calming music and hand massage reduced agitation more than no intervention, the benefit of the intervention was sustained for up to one hour, the increased benefit over time of the intervention was similar for each group and, when different types of agitated behaviors were examined separately, none of the interventions significantly reduced physical aggressive behaviors, however, physically nonagressive behaviors decreased (Remington, 2002).

Agitated behavior is a widespread problem that adversely affects the health of nursing home residents and increases the cost of their care. Agitated nursing home residents are more likely to be physically or chemically restrained, to fall and to have a lower quality of life. Current strategies to reduce agitated behavior tend to be costly.

Critique

This research examined a relatively inexpensive intervention to reduce the agitated behavior of cognitively impaired nursing home residents. The specific aim was to compare the effect of calming music or hand massage or a combination of calming music and hand massage on the level and type of agitated behavior over time. This four group, repeated measures design used the Progressively Lowered Stress Threshold model to test the effect of exposure to calming music and hand massage on agitation. This model proposes that in the context of agitation, the stress response can be altered and functionally adaptive behavior achieved by modifying environmental demands and controlling for factors that correlate with the perception of stress. Power calculations indicated that a sample size of 68 would be adequate to detect significant results. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four intervention groups: (1) calming music, (2) hand massage, (3) calming music and hand massage simultaneously, or (4) control. Level of agitation was assessed during each of four ten minute observation periods, immediately before the intervention, during the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and at 60 minutes. Each of the experimental interventions produced a reduction in agitation that was greater than that achieved in the absence of any intervention (Remington, 2002).

The benefit was sustained and increased over time. The level of increased benefit over tune was similar in each of the experimental intervention groups. When syndromes of agitated behaviors were examined separately, there were differential levels of reduction of physically aggressive, physically non-aggressive and verbally agitated behaviors. Results of this study provide information on an easily administered intervention that can improve the quality of life for nursing home residents and potentially decrease the cost of their car.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine whether calming music and hand massage reduce agitated behavior in nursing home residents with dementia.

Design: A four group, repeated measures, experimental design was used to test the effect of a ten minute exposure to either calming music, or hand massage, or calming music and hand massage simultaneously, or no intervention ...