Healthcare Professionals
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Dr. Linda Gerdner has worked with patients with Alzheimer's for many years. The research behind the concepts in Musical Memories is extensive, and has been collected over a number of years. The following information is intended to provide deeper insight into the research and science behind these concepts. While this information may be most interesting to those in the medical community, it can also be used by educators and even family members to help them gain a deeper understanding of how individualized music can be used as a theraputic treatment for persons with Alzheimer's Disease.
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NOTE: Some of the following resources are available to view free of charge.
Online Training for Use of Individualized Music
Gerdner, L. A. (March 2015). Individualized Music for Persons with ADRD. Stanford Geriatric Education
Center. Stanford University School of Medicine.
Gerdner, L. A. (2017). Reducing Agitation in Elders with Dementia [1.5 CEU’s] Sigma
Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing / The John A. Hartford Foundation Online Continuing Education Program. Available at http://www.nursingknowledge.org/reducing-agitation-in-elders-with-dementia.html
Gerdner, L. A. (April 2006). Intervention: Individualized music. In J. Ronch (Ed.) The Electronic Dementia
Guide for Excellence (EDGE) Project. Funded by The New York State Department of Health.
Interview
2013 Individualized Music. Interview on Web-TV by Ruben Muñiz Schwochert for
International Non-Pharmacological Therapies Project.
Evidence-Based Guideline
Dr. Gerdner authored the first evidence-based guideline for individualized music in 1996. The protocol is currently in its NEWLY RELEASED 7th EDITION and has been tested and used in United States, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Latin America, France, Sweden, Norway, Japan and Taiwan.
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Gerdner, L. A. (2021). Evidence-based guideline: Individualized Music for Persons with Dementia (7th
Edition).
Peer Reviewed Articles on Individualized Music
Gerdner, L. A. (2019). Evidence-Based Guideline: Individualized Music for Persons with Dementia
(6th Edition). Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy Open Access, 2(1), pp, 1-10.
Gerdner, L. A. & Buckwalter, K. C. (2017). Clarification of Research and Associated Evidence-Based Protocol for Individualized Music in Persons with Dementia. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 25(11), 1289-1291. doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2017.08.007
Gerdner, L. A. & McBride, M (2015). Individualized music intervention for agitation in dementia care and
disaster preparedness. Journal of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, 1(1), 1-5.
Gerdner, L. A. (2015). Ethnicity is an inherent criterion for assessment of individualized music for persons
with Alzheimer’s disease. Clinical Gerontologist, 38(2), 179-186. doi: 10.1080/07317115.2014.988900
Gerdner, L. A. , & Buckwalter, K. C. (2013). “Musical Memories”: Translating evidence-based gerontological
nursing into a children’s picture book. Journal of Gerontological Nursing. 39 (1), 32-41. DOI: 10.3928/00989134-20121204-01
Gerdner, L. A. (2012). Individualized music for persons with dementia: Evolution and application of e
vidence-based protocol. World Journal of Psychiatry, 2(2) 26-32. DOI: org/10.5498/wjp.v2.i2.
Gerdner, L. A. (2009). Top cited papers in International Psychogeriatrics: 4. Effects of individualized vs.
classical “relaxation” music on the frequency of agitation in elderly persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Reflection. (With commentary by Nicola T. Lautenschlager) International Psychogeriatrics, 21(4), 667-671.
Gerdner, L. A. (2005). Use of individualized music by trained staff and family: Translating research into p
practice. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 31 (6), 22-30. quiz 55-56.
Gerdner, L. A. (2000). Effects of individualized vs. classical "relaxation" music on the frequency of agitation
in elderly persons with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. International Psychogeriatrics, 12(1), 49-65. DOI:10.1017/S1041610200006190 Published online: 10 January 2005
Gerdner, L. A. (1997). An individualized music intervention for agitation. Journal of the American
Psychiatric Nurses Association, 3(6), 177-184. DOI: 10.1177/107839039700300603 MID-RANGE THEORY
Gerdner, L. A., & Swanson, E. A. (1993). Effects of individualized music on elderly patients who are confused
and agitated. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 7(5), 282-291. DOI: 10.1016/0883-9417(93)90006-I
Select Peer-Reviewed Articles about the Progressively Lowered Stress Threshold
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Hall, G.R., & Buckwalter, K.C. (1987). Progressively lowered stress threshold: A conceptual model for care
of adults with Alzheimer’s disease. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 1(6), 399-406.
Hall, G. R., Gerdner, L., Zwyart-Stauffacher, M., & Buckwalter, K. C. (1995). Principles of non-
pharmacological management: Caring for people with Alzheimer's disease using a conceptual model. Psychiatric Annals, 25(7), 432-440.
Smith, M., Gerdner, L. A., Hall, G., & Buckwalter, K. C. (2004). The history, development, and future of the
progressively lowered stress threshold model: A conceptual model for dementia care. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, (10), 1755-1760.
Smith, M., Hall, G. R., Gerdner, L. A., & Buckwalter, K. C. (2006). Application of the progressively lowered
stress threshold (PLST) model across the continuum of care. Nursing Clinics of North America, 41 (1), 57-81. DOI: 10.1016/j.cnur.2005.09.006