Capacity Building of Music Care for Older Adults and Caregivers: Qualitative Exploration of Enablers and Barriers

This study aimed to understand integration of music into caregiving by exploring factors influencing adoption. In this descriptive qualitative study, an online platform was used to conduct six homogeneous focus groups (<i>n</i> = 23) of care service operators for older adults, formal and informal caregivers across five regional states. Thematic findings revealed three themes (i.e., deployment and adoption of music, enablers of music care implementation, and barriers in implementing music care) that provided insights on current adoption of music care and its enablers and barriers in Malaysia. Although the use of music care among caregivers and care service operators is suboptimal and less structured, positive perception towards music allows more initiatives to improve its adoption. Recommendations made to address the major barriers of limited support, resources scarcity, and factors of caregivers include harnessing intelligent technology to develop personalized music care and fostering more interdisciplinary collaboration for a more sustainable adoption of music care.