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Effect of music on mealtime disruptions
- Authors:
- HOOPER Jeff, CARSON Derek, LINDSAY Bill
- Journal article citation:
- Nursing Times, 27.11.12, 2012, pp.22-24.
- Publisher:
- Nursing Times
People with learning disabilities may display anxiety-driven behaviours that disrupt mealtimes. This study examined how delivering calming background music through headphones affected anxiety-driven behaviours that disrupted mealtimes of people with learning disabilities. A convenience sample of 30 adults with mild, moderate or severe learning disabilities was videotaped during mealtimes on two consecutive days. On the first day, half the group age without any calming music, while the other half sat opposite wearing earphones. On the second day, the non-music and music groups were swapped around. The final sample size was 24, as some would not tolerate the headphones. Of these 24 only three showed disruptive behaviour. There were signs that calming music has a positive effect on disruptive mealtime behaviours, though the sample was too small to conduct meaningful analysis.