Music Therapy for Hospitalized Patients with Parkinson’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia: A Randomized Controlled Pilot to Prevent Delirium.

Music Therapy for Hospitalized Patients with Parkinson’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia:
A Randomized Controlled Pilot to Prevent Delirium.  

Delirium, one of the biggest complications for hospitalized patients with neurological disorders, is being targeted with music therapy intervention through Smith Lab with a collaborative partnership from the Palliative Care team, made possible by the UMass Memorial Medical Center's PACE program.

UMass Chan Medical School is partnered with UMass Memorial to manage clinical research by investigating the outcomes of a targeted music therapy intervention study designed to improve healthcare outcomes by reducing delirium. Through the controlled pilot, music therapy intervention will open future clinical trials and expand the use of music therapy in healthcare treatments and management.

We are extremely appreciative of the PACE program supporting this project. The PACE program brings so much value to our faculty, institution, and community by enabling emerging researchers to thrive and fueling new collaborations. This unique program puts UMass Memorial Healthcare at the forefront of innovative clinical and translational research. 

Kara Smith, MD, and Wissam Deeb, MD of the Department of Neurology's Parkinson's disease and Movement Disorders Center, Jennifer Reidy, MD, Vandana Nagpal, MD, and Marycarla MacDonald, of the Palliative Care Department have been awarded a $100,000 grant to fund their innovative solution project to benefit patients with Parkinson's disease, by UMass Memorial Medical Center's 6th Annual PACE Award.