Listen to the Music: Bringing the Tennessee Person-Centered Music Program to Nursing Home Residents
By Amanda Boulware and Hanna Counts, TCAD Program Coordinators –
These have been trying times for those working and living in long-term care facilities. Older adults, specifically those in nursing homes, remain especially vulnerable to COVID-19 and the effects of prolonged social isolation during the pandemic. This prolonged social isolation has increased depression, anxiety, and agitation in nursing home residents with dementia. As a result, it has influenced their quality of life, medication usage, and nursing home staff’s ability to perform tasks. To alleviate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and to improve the quality of life and care of nursing home residents in the state, the Tennessee Person-Centered Music Program (TPCMP) is offered virtually to all nursing homes.
On February 1, 2019, the Tennessee Arts Commission received a $1,000,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Health and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to implement a statewide individualized music intervention program for residents in nursing homes. The Tennessee Arts Commission is partnering with the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability and the Tennessee Health Care Association to implement the program. The mission of the TPCMP is to provide individualized music to Tennessee nursing home residents to improve the quality of life and care. The program aims to reduce reliance on antipsychotic, anti-anxiety, and anti-depressive medications, lessen physical, verbal, and other adverse behavioral symptoms, and increase access to activities that engage residents and enhance person-centered care by staff. The TPCMP is free to all licensed, participating nursing homes in Tennessee and includes training, equipment, headphones, and personalized playlists to enrich the lives of residents. The program uses wireless headphones that are loaded with personalized playlists for each resident. The program offers a non-pharmacological, low-cost alternative to medications and helps meet CMS guidelines by promoting the development of person-centered care decision-making.
Since the start of the TPCMP, staff has seen numerous positive outcomes. The therapeutic music intervention has been shown to have a lasting impact on residents based on observations from program staff and testimonials from program coaches. Most people are already aware that music has mood and energy-boosting abilities. However, many do not realize that music is a successful form of pain management. This is demonstrated when a resident can go from lying in bed and experiencing great pain to sitting up and singing along to the music.
The music also enables residents to become livelier and more interested in engaging in conversations. As one program coach said, “[The resident] was very vocal about wanting to listen to the music today. She had a lot of meaningful eye contact and grabbed my hand and moved them to the music. She was calm and relaxed while listening to her music.” For those who are in later stages of dementia, simply being able to speak a few coherent words can be monumental.
TPCMP’s focus is to improve the lives of Tennessee nursing home residents and aims to help increase job satisfaction for nursing home staff. Unfortunately, there can be high turnover rates at long-term care facilities. Therefore, a goal of the program is to increase job satisfaction by utilizing music as a non-pharmacological approach to decrease resident’s adverse. The music can make for a more pleasant and fun environment for residents and staff. One program coach put it like this, “[The resident] listens to her music every morning and even gets me dancing along with her.”
TPCMP staff relies heavily on program coaches to report any noticeable changes in residents’ behaviors or moods after a music session. The most remarkable story reported so far was of a bedridden resident who could walk after listening to their individualized music. The program coach stated, “After listening to her music, [the resident] was able to get up and take a few steps which is something she has not done in over a year.” Stories like this show just how powerful music can be.
The TPCMP has reached seven facilities to date, and program staff is ready to implement many more within the following year. If you are interested in offering the Tennessee Person-Centered Music Program at your nursing home or simply want more information, please feel free to contact Program Coordinator Hanna Counts (email: hanna.counts@tn.gov, P. 615-313-6679).
