Can your favourite songs ease dementia symptoms? new study investigates
NCT ID NCT04132362
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study explores whether personalised music playlists can help improve behavioural and psychological symptoms in people with dementia. Researchers will work with care home residents and families to create custom playlists and monitor emotional responses. The goal is to develop a quick, cost-effective method for playlist creation and assess its impact on well-being.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- personalised music listening
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could provide a simple, low-cost way to ease distressing symptoms like agitation in people with dementia, improving their quality of life.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early feasibility study, not a large trial. It focuses on developing methods, not proving effectiveness. Results may not apply to all dementia stages or settings.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Participants
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About 1,080 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Nov 2019
- Expected to finish
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Apr 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
Who is studied
80 residents living with dementia, from up to 10 different care homes. Up to 80 informal carers, participating in music listening sessions, focus groups and/or providing feedback. Up to 20 care home staff, participating in focus groups or interviews. In addition, all staff in participating care homes will participate in administration of personalised music interventions. Up to 1000 families affected by dementia living at home or in the community.
- Ages
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Children (under 18), adults (18 to 64) and older adults (65 and over)
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: A care home meeting all of the following criteria will be eligible to join the feasibility studies: * Is located in South East England; * Has at least 5 residents who care home staff estimate to be eligible for the studies; * Agrees to identify a suitable space for personalised music listening to be trialled; * Agrees to make staff available to select residents and support the studies; A resident meeting all of the following criteria will be eligible to participate in the feasibility studies: * A permanent resident within a care home run by the Quantum Care Home Group; * Has been assessed by suitably qualified/trained care home staff (or a medical professional) as having symptoms and signs of dementia (of any type). * Has one or more family member/carer willing to participate in this study by providing sufficient responses to a questionnaire about the resident's musical preferences and background and feedback on the resident's responses to listening to personalised music. * Has the ability to communicate in English; and * For participants who are assessed as lacking mental capacity to consent to participation, has an attorney or Consultee willing to support their inclusion in the study. An informal carer meeting all of the following criteria will be eligible to participate in the feasibility studies: * People above the age of 18 who are a family member or friend and act as an informal carer for a participant with dementia. * Has the ability to communicate in English. A care home staff meeting the following criteria will be eligible to participate in the feasibility study: * Health and social care staff, paid to provide care to individuals with dementia within participating care homes. This may include Managers, Registered Nursing staff, Care Assistants or Activity Coordinators. * Has the ability to communicate in English. Exclusion Criteria: A care home meeting any of the following criteria will not be eligible to join the feasibility study if it is: * Rated at the last Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection as Needs Improvement or Inadequate; * Subject to CQC enforcement notices, admission bans or major CQC compliance issues; * Currently, or has recently been involved in, another research study or trial that conflicts with personalised music or with data collection during the course of these studies. A resident meeting any of the following criteria will not be eligible to participate in the feasibility studies: * Assessed by care home staff or a medical professional as having severe depression; * Assessed as being unable to hear music through headphones; * Is so severely physically impaired as to make it unlikely that the researchers, carers or informal carers will be able to observe responses to personalised music through (for example, changes in facial expression, tapping of feet or fingers etc) * Is currently, or has recently been involved in, another research study or trial that conflicts with personalised music listening or with data collection during the course of these studies; * Is expected to die before the completion of their participation in the study.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Willow Court
RECRUITINGHarpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 5SD, United Kingdom
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