The influence of background music on task engagement in frail, older persons in residential care

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of preferred backgroun d music on the engagement of residents of a nursing care facility in therap eutic recreation tasks. Eighteen subjects were assigned to one of two group s and both groups participated in a series of 12 weekly sessions in which t he background conditions were randomly ordered. All subjects experienced fo ur sessions each of 10 minutes of (a) silence, (b) preferred background mus ic, and (c) nonpreferred background music. Videotapes were made of all sess ions and an observer recorded the number of 30-second time intervals in whi ch each subject was on task. A one-way analysis of variance calculated for frequencies of time intervals for the three conditions revealed no statisti cally significant differences. II was noted however, that the therapist fen ded to prompt more conversations during the preferred music, and when subje cts responded they generally dropped their task participation. The investig ators concluded that background music may influence the therapists' behavio rs which may, in turn, influence responses of their program participants. F urther study of the effects of background music on task engagement among ca re home residents is recommended.