Innovative Music Listening App Aims to Improve Sleep for Older Adults Living with Dementia
Traditional drugs for insomnia can have negative side effects, so nonpharmacologic therapies like music listening offer safer alternatives.
People living with dementia often experience sleep issues, such as problems falling or staying asleep. Sleep deprivation can cause worsening dementia symptoms, impede daily tasks and affect the mood of the dementia sufferer and their caregiver. Assistant Professor Darina Petrovsky, PhD, RN, studies music and brain health and leads a study to develop a mobile app called Calming Music Personalized for Sleep Enhancement in Persons Living with Dementia (CoMPoSER). The app is intended as a therapy tool to improve sleep for people with dementia and help create a nightly routine.
Drugs to treat insomnia can create negative side effects in people living with dementia, such as daytime drowsiness and an increased likelihood of falls and accidents. Nonpharmacologic therapies for sleep aid may offer safer, more effective alternatives, but most existing applications were not developed for older adults with dementia, Petrovsky found.
“We don’t have a lot of therapies available for persons living with dementia and their caregivers,” Petrovsky said, adding that dementia can also be very isolating for patients and their caregivers. “Music provides them with an opportunity to engage with others.” CoMPoSER will use a music streaming software, such as Apple Music, to create a playlist that has sleep-inducing characteristics. For example, music with a certain number of beats per minute and no high-pitched sounds or lyrics can stimulate relaxation and sleep. The app interface will be a product of the study.
Soliciting Buy-In from Older Adults
“Most of the time, technology is developed without any input from older adults, especially those living with dementia,” Petrovsky said. Existing products can leave older users frustrated, especially if they are struggling with cognitive decline. Based on the feedback from the study, CoMPoSER will incorporate a simple layout and style ideas from study participants, with help functions available for users. “I hope that my project will help caregivers and those who have dementia use music in their daily lives, using technology that was designed with them and for them.”
Petrovsky was awarded the National Institutes of Health 5-year career development award before she joined the faculty at the School of Nursing in 2024, and this summer, the team will begin the final phase of the study, titled “Music-based Intervention for Insomnia in Persons Living with Dementia and their Caregivers.” The first phase included interviews with seven older adults living with dementia and 13 caregivers. Participants offered feedback such a customizing the app with personalized music to match a person’s favorite genre. This winter, the first prototype will be tested with 10 people living with dementia, along with their corresponding caregivers, and changes to the prototype will be made based on that data. The final phase of the project will include a randomized trial of 72 dyads to assess whether those using the app experience better sleep than the control group.
A Familial Love of Music Informs Research
Petrovsky grew up in Russia, where she developed a lifelong love of music from her grandmother. She moved to the U.S. at age 14, and in high school had an opportunity to play piano for different communities, including for people in nursing and assisted living homes. “That gave me an opportunity to get to know them and learn about the power of music and memory.” She studied musical arts as an undergraduate before earning her advanced nursing degrees. Her research interests include ways to achieve health equity among older adults living with cognitive impairment and their caregivers, and how music can be used to prevent cognitive decline: “Music interventions are particularly promising because long-term memory for music remains relatively preserved in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.”
“Dementia is a public health challenge with no cure that requires collaborations and working with others to find solutions to improve the lives of those living with the disease and their families,” Petrovsky said. “While focusing on a cure is very important, it is also equally important to find solutions and approaches to improve well-being and care of those currently living with that disease.”
Nurse scientists at Duke University School of Nursing are leading the charge in research to address healthcare challenges here in North Carolina and across the globe. Learn more by visiting our Center for Nursing Research.
You can help support this vital research: Give to the School of Nursing's Annual Fund.