Musical Playlist of the Grief Journey

NCT06445010 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: STUDY00000463
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about the effectiveness of a music-based intervention as a bereavement strategy for individuals who are a part of the Loss of Spouse/Life Partner Grief Support Group at HopeHealth, a healthcare organization in Providence, Rhode Island that specializes in home care, hospice care, palliative care, and grief support. The main question it ams to answer is:

• Will the experience of creating a musical playlist help individuals in bereavement process their grief more effectively? Participants will undergo the following main tasks:
• A baseline pre-assessment survey that asks about the role of music in the participant's and their partner's life, as well as how music has helped participants with their grief.
• A 75-minute Zoom session with the study investigator which includes a conversation about the participant's loved one and grief journey. This Zoom session serves to find themes and emotions in the participant's grief journey which will be as foundations for musical playlists.
• Participants will create their own musical playlist based on guidance from the study investigator.
• A post-assessment survey that asks participants to reflect on the experience of creating a playlist. This survey also examines if music plays a new role in the participant's life.

Conditions

Music Therapy; Bereavement

Keywords

Grief Support, Creative Arts

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Change from Baseline in Music's Impact on Mental Health and Well-Being

  A vetted question with study directors serves to measure if using music as a medium to express participants' grief has any impact on mental health and well-being before and after the music playlist creation experience. The minimum value is "Music impacts my mental health and well-being in a negative way" and the maximum value is "Music impacts my mental health and well-being in a positive way." The maximum value means a better outcome.

  Baseline and Week 1

• Change from Baseline in the Importance of Music in Participant's Life

  Vetted questions with study directors serve to measure the importance of music in participants' life before and after the music playlist creation experience. These questions also examine the likelihood of participants to continue listening to their playlists after the project conclusion as a therapeutic resource. The minimum value is "very unimportant" and the maximum value is "very important." The maximum value means a better outcome.

  Baseline and Week 1

• Qualitative Learning Moments After Music Playlist Creation

  Vetted questions with study directors ask participants to reflect on their overall experience on creating and listening to their musical playlist. The questions ask participants to elaborate on how the exercise has helped them process/navigate/provide a new perspective to their grief experience. The study investigator also asks participants to reflect on any pieces of music that particularly connected with them and why. Because these questions are qualitative in nature there are no minimum or maximum values.

  Baseline and Week 1

Study Arms (1)

Creating Musical Playlist

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants created a musical playlist over 1 week based on themes and emotions from their grief journey.

Other: Creating Musical Playlist

Interventions

Creating Musical Playlist OTHER

Personal music playlist for therapeutic listening and sharing with other individuals in bereavement

Creating Musical Playlist

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Participant in HopeHealth's Spouse/Life Partner Grief Support group
• Sufficient hearing capacity to hear music
• Access to a computer, laptop, phone, iPad, or any other technological device that's able to support YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, or another preferred streaming service
• Ability to complete pre- and post-assessments in English.

You may not qualify if:

• Participants who have participated in any music-based intervention for bereavement

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Brown University: lead
• The Miriam Hospital: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

HopeHealth

Providence, Rhode Island, 02904, United States

Location

Study Officials

• Diana A Wang, BA

  Brown University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Deanna Church

  HopeHealth

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Sarah DeCosta, LMHC

  HopeHealth

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Fred J Schiffman, MD

  Brown University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 31, 2024
• First Posted: June 6, 2024
• Study Start: June 11, 2024
• Primary Completion: August 31, 2024
• Study Completion: January 1, 2026
• Last Updated: October 29, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)