Home-based Family Caregiver-delivered Music and Reading Interventions for People With Dementia
Home-based Family Caregiver-delivered Music and Reading Interventions for People With Dementia
This international study evaluates the impact of home-based caregiver-delivered music and
 reading interventions for people with dementia. The project aims to address the need for
 improved informal dementia care by training family caregivers to utilise a music or reading
 intervention with the person they are caring for. The interventions aim to decrease
 behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia as well as improve quality of life and
 well being of both people living with dementia and their caregivers. Participants will be
 allocated into a music intervention group, a reading intervention group or standard care
 group. In addition, the researchers will seek to determine the cost-effectiveness of using
 the music intervention.
This three-arm parallel-group randomised controlled trial will involve 495 couples
 (cohabiting caregivers and people with dementia) across 5 countries. Caregivers allocated to
 the music or reading intervention groups will be given three 2-hour training sessions in the
 allocated intervention. They will be asked to deliver the intervention to the person they are
 caring for 5x weekly for 3 months. Data will be collected prior to implementing the
 intervention, during the intervention (via diaries kept by the caregivers), after the last
 week of implementing the intervention and 3-months after implementing the intervention.

 The investigators will explore whether caregiver-delivered music or reading activities
 improve behavioural and psychological symptoms for people living with dementia. The
 researchers will also seek to find out the impact on other aspects of both the person with
 dementia and their caregiver's quality of life and well being. Additionally, costs associated
 with the care of the person with dementia will be evaluated to determine cost-effectiveness
 of delivering a music intervention.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Dyads (cohabiting) who are close in relationship and where one member has a diagnosis
 of dementia according to ICD-10 criteria (Alzheimer's Disease [AD], Frontotemporal
 Dementia, Vascular Dementia [VD], Lewy Body Disease, or mixed dementia) as determined
 by a clinician experienced in diagnosing dementia. Close in relationship refers to a
 caregiver who may be a sibling, spouse, adult child, friend, niece or nephew or any
 person who has a close relationship to the person with dementia, that is, anyone who
 is not a formal paid caregiver.

 -  Dyads where the person with dementia has a Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire
 (NPI-Q) Score of ≥6 (from a maximum score of 36)

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Dyads where either or both the caregiver or person with dementia have significant
 hearing impairments that are not resolved through the use of a hearing aid device and
 limit their capacity to enjoy musical experiences

 -  There will be no further exclusions