Music Therapy for Seniors
Music can have a powerful impact on anyone, but it releases a tripwire of powerful memories for the elderly. This is why music therapy is one of the most effective treatments for seniors. Learn more about how music can affect your senior loved ones.
No musician or music lover denies the transformative power of music. Music is good for the spirit, however young or old you may be.
How Music Therapy Can Affect Seniors
A clip from the soon-to-be-released documentary about music and the elderly, Alive Inside, recently went viral. It shows an older man with dementia who is seemingly only able to answer yes or no questions. But when someone puts headphones over his ears and plays music from his youth, he suddenly transforms, becoming happy, animated, and even eloquent. Shortly after this experience, he tells an interviewer, “It [music] gives me the feeling of love, of romance. I figure right now the world needs to come into music, singing.”
Music Therapy Tips for Loved Ones
If there is an older person in your life who loves music, but who has fallen out of practice, encourage him or her to rekindle that passion. There’s everything to gain and nothing to lose. Here are some pointers:
- If you have an elderly relative who used to play an instrument, try to get him or her playing again. If there’s an instrument up in the attic, dust it off and restring it. Have it fixed up if necessary. If the instrument is gone, buy an affordable replacement.
- If you and your older loved one sing or play instruments, by all means do so together, especially if you haven’t before. Music can create a very special bond.
- If your loved one was a music lover, but not a musician, ask about his or her favorite music. Maybe even ask for a list of his or her favorite artists, albums, and songs. Then get your loved one an easy to use MP3 player with his or her favorite music already preloaded. If your generosity extends to strangers, one organization, Music and Memory, even accepts donations of used iPods to be used in music therapy.
The Evidence behind using Music Therapy with seniors in Care
Music therapy provides opportunities for:
• Memory recall which contributes to reminiscence and satisfaction with life
• Positive changes in mood and emotional states
• Sense of control over life through successful experiences
• Awareness of self and environment which accompanies increased attention to music
• Anxiety and stress reduction for older adult and caregiver
• Nonpharmacological management of pain and discomfort
• Stimulation which provokes interest even when no other approach is effective
• Structure which promotes rhythmic and continuous movement or vocal fluency as an adjunct to physical rehabilitation
• Emotional intimacy when spouses and families share creative music experiences
• Social interaction with caregivers and families
Research Highlights
• Music therapy reduces depression among older adults.
• Music experiences can be structured to enhance social/emotional skills, to assist in recall and language skills and to decrease problem behaviors.
• Music tasks can be used to assess cognitive ability in people with Alzheimer’s Disease.
• Music is effective in decreasing the frequency of agitated and aggressive behaviors for individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias. Individuals in the late stages of dementia respond to and interact with music.
Music therapists have long said that music therapy could be used to help people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia reconnect with their memories and become more social. Recently, a number of studies have been conducted that strengthen the therapy’s potential as an Alzheimer’s care technique. In a small new study published in the Journal of Music Therapy, researchers showed that music could encourage seniors with dementia to be more communicative and engage with the songs they were hearing.
The study was conducted with residents of oneretirement community, all of whom had prior experience singing. Participants listened to music that had been popular in Israel, where the study was conducted, between the 1930s and ’50s . The songs were chosen because participants were likely to have encountered them at times in their youth when their identities were taking shape.
Study Limitations
Researchers cautioned that their results may have more to do with the memories stirred by familiar songs than they did simply with the fact that participants were listening to music. They also recognized the many variables in play, such as a person’s attachment to individual pieces of music. Further, participants were more likely to talk about memories related to the music they heard than any other subject.
Reducing Isolation
Despite these limitations, researchers said that they did find positive associations in their study. By giving the residents something to identify with and feel ownership of, the study’s authors said that they could alleviate some of the isolation and confusion that often accompanies dementia.
“The idea that they are part of something is very important to people with Alzheimer’s,” Ayelet Dassa, who led the study, said in the report. “They lose their sense of self. Their self esteem is very low.”
After listening to music as a group, many residents opened up to one another and to researchers. They mainly talked about the feelings that the music inspired, and these topics triggered other memories. According to researchers, some residents discussed their childhood experiences, especially those that related to the music that they heard. When participants were given the chance to sing along with the songs, they opened up even more.
“A large part of the conversation was about how they sang as individuals (and) as a group, and they gave compliments to each other,” Dassa said.
Social Singing
These results gave the authors confidence that music was encouraging social behavior and cohesion. Dassa speculated that the real power of the therapy was in its ability to make residents feel like part of a group.
Data collected by the Music Therapy Association from numerous studies support many of the new study’s conclusions. According to a report from the organization, seniors with dementia can experience a reduction in aggression and other behaviors related to the condition even into the disease’s late stages if they participate in music therapy. The treatment may also lessen depression and isolation, and aptitude with recalling and performing music can be used to gauge the cognitive abilities of a person with Alzheimer’s
