Humming as a Potential Tool for Facilitating Feeding Situations Between Persons With Dementia and Their Caregiver: A Single Case Study

Abstract

Persons with dementia (PWDs) have a major cognitive decline in the ability to meet universal self-care needs, including self- feeding and maintaining a sufficient intake of fluids and food. The aim was to describe whether caregivers’ humming during lunch situations affected eating and feeding problems in PWDs. An experimental single-case design was used, involving video observa- tion. At baseline, PWDs were fed by their caregivers in the usual way and at intervention the PWDs were fed while a caregiver hummed. Analysis using the Edinburgh Feeding Evaluation (EdFED) showed that for Mrs Smith, the EdFED score decreased from a mean score of 14 at baseline to a mean score of 8.5 during the intervention. Mrs Green experienced a decrease in mean score from 12 at baseline to 8.5 during the intervention. This pilot study suggests that humming during lunch situations might enhance eating and feeding abilities for PWD and should be further studied.