‘Playlist for Life’ at the end of life: a mixed-methods feasibility study of a personalised music listening intervention in the hospice setting

BACKGROUND: Playlist for Life is a brief, inexpensive music listening intervention which originated in dementia care, but is increasingly being used for people at the end of life. However, there is a lack of robust empirical research on its application in the hospice setting. Our patient and public involvement group originated the idea for this study. The aim of this feasibility study was to inform the design of a larger effectiveness study on the use of Playlist for Life in the hospice setting. METHOD: This study was a mixed-methods feasibility study involving adults at the end of life, family members and hospice staff from one in-patient hospice in Scotland. Eligible patient/family member dyads were approached by hospice staff and if interested, recruited by the researcher. All included participants received the intervention, which involved the provision of an MP3 player and assistance to set up a playlist. Participants were asked to listen to the playlist daily during the intervention period (7 days). Data were collected through patient reported outcome measures and on days 1, 3 and 7 of the intervention period and through participant observation session. Patient/family member dyads and hospice staff also took part in qualitative interviews (Appendix 1) post-intervention, which were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically. Semi-structured interviews at the end of the intervention period were used to evaluate feasibility and acceptability. An advisory group including patients, family members and staff gave helpful feedback on the qualitative interview questions. Interview questions were the same for all participants and all the questions were asked to all participants. RESULTS: N = 15 participants were recruited (n = 5 patients, n = 5 family, n = 5 staff. The intervention was appraised positively, particularly regarding its beneficial effect on patient/family relationships. The study design was deemed feasible and acceptable. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study will inform the development of a future randomised cluster trial designed to assess the usability and effectiveness of the Playlist for Life personalised music intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was not registered as this was a small feasibility study, conducted prior to a pilot study not testing for effectiveness. In addition, the study was non-randomised. The study is registered with NHS ethics and the hospice research and governance team