Music Therapy In Dementia Patients: Write A Prescription For Some Good Tunes In Support Of Memory Recovery!

I recently looked over a story on the Wall Street Journal website related to the use of music therapy in dementia patients. The content stated that one of the criticisms of music playback devices is that people who use them tend to evade relationships with other folks and remain in an insulated universe of their own. However, recent observations of stroke and Alzheimer's patients are revealing that iPods and other MP3 devices often have the contrary result.

By listening to some old familiar tunes, advanced dementia patients can relink with their memories and with each other in some surprising ways, especially for people with degenerative brain diseases. To cite an example, as stated by the Journal, listening to rap and reggae on a borrowed iPod every day prompted a 28-year-old stroke victim to resume walking and use his hands again.

In another case, a 52 year-old man who fell from a fourth-floor construction site and suffered a crushed larynx became so captivated with music that he wrote 400 songs and made four albums. An 85-year-old dementia patient in Florida listens to her favorite opera and Yiddish songs each day on an iPod with a home health aide or her daughter when she comes to visit. According to her daughter they listen for at least about half an hour a day and "It seems to touch something deep within her."

Caregivers have known for many years that music therapy in dementia patients can be very efficacious. They have observed for decades that Alzheimer's sufferers can still remember and sing tunes long after they have stopped recognizing names and faces. Hospitals and aging care facilities have been using music as recreation for a long time, because it causes patients pleasure. Moreover, beyond the pleasure value, there is significant evidence that listening to music can also help improve apparently lost memories, and even help restore cognitive function in some cases. (via IPod Therapy for Alzheimer's Patients, WSJ.com)

As a senior citizen myself I am a big supporter of iPods and similar devices for senior citizens. I myself have an iPhone, which is pretty much an iPod with a telephone built into it. I am aware that many of you will be suspicious because you think such devices are too complicated for seniors. However, as research as shown, using complicated devices can be quite efficacious in minimizing memory loss due to aging. Now we discover that the musical functionality can be helpful even for those who have already suffered cognitive decline.

Well, okay, you might decide not to actually leave an iPod in the hands of a person who is experiencing dementia, but such a device can certainly be used, under supervision, to provide the kinds of music therapy in dementia patients set out in this article. Technology can be amazingly beneficial for those who are willing to be creative and discerning in applying its use. IPod music therapy in dementia patients is a perfect example.

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