Music and Memory: Exploring a Music-Based Intervention on Bathing for Residents in Memory Care

Personal hygiene, as well as many other daily living tasks, is not often regarded as a stressful or traumatic event. Giving a bath or shower to a person with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias (ADRD) is typically an ongoing struggle for caregivers around the world. Generally, taking a bath or shower results in hostility, arguing, combativeness, screaming and even crying. This study explores claims that live music decreases levels of stress during bathing for people with ADRD. To test this, qualitative data has been collected based on the observations of professional caregivers, and quantitative data has been collected based on the levels of cortisol, a human stress hormone, taken before and after bath times on music and non-music days. These preliminary results suggest that live music-based interventions may lessen the trauma experienced by the residents during bath times. Therefore, this study opens the door for more consistent use of music by nurses, nursing aids, and other caregivers to perform better care for people with memory-loss complications.