From the day he moved in, everyone knew three things about Harry. He loved plants, he had a killer smile, and he never went anywhere without his harmonica. Dementia had stolen his huge repertoire but he still retained six or seven songs he played from memory. While passing in the hall you would hear them drifting from his room, or he would draw a crowd in the lounge and spontaneously entertain. Folks sang along and didn’t mind the repeats.
As his dementia progressed, he could no longer walk, forgot his plants and didn’t smile as often. His smile returned, however, whenever he enjoyed music therapy with Kathleen. She encouraged and sang with him and cajoled him to play. When he did, she made it seem like he led the group and he beamed.
As time passed it became obvious that Harry neared the end of his journey. He barely spoke and the physical aspects of the disease made every day a struggle. When Kathleen offered him the harmonica, I turned away. Not this time. Never again. His fingers fumbled and she helped him hold it to his lips. Then, a miracle.
The song drifted. “You are my sunshine…” Just a few bars, but enough to leave us all in tears.
Why Music Therapy?
Kathleen Power was drawn to music therapy in university while researching music-related programs. Over the years of practising her skills, she continually marvels at the interchange between music and psychology. Music–the universal language.
In music therapy, credentialed professionals (Music Therapist Accredited) use music purposefully to support development, health and well-being. Music also reaches people on other levels and can meet their emotional, physical, social and spiritual needs. MTAs tailor programs with two types of interventions: active and receptive.
Active therapy involves both the client and music therapist creating music with instruments, their voices etc. In receptive therapy the music therapist plays music while the client listens and completes other tasks, depending on their goals. This improves the health and quality of life for clients of all ages and abilities.
So Many Benefits!
- self-expression
- decrease agitation
- pain management
- facilitate rehabilitation
- “provide psychosocial support, increasing mental health” 1
Who Benefits?
Everyone. Picture a room with a group of elderly residents sitting in a loose circle, belting out a song from their era. A care partner passes and begins to dance in the middle of the circle. A sleeping resident wakes, smiles and taps her toe. A family member drops by because she bookmarked the time, knowing her mother loves singing together.
Music and Dementia
Dementia stole so much from Vivian in her later years. She could no longer walk or speak, but her smile during church services indicated her deep faith remained intact. Her eyes shone through the singing of hymns and often a tear escaped during prayer. But nothing prepared us for the day she sang. After literally years of silence, Vivian’s wavering alto sang, “Jesus loves me, this I know…”
Kimmo Lehtonen, PhD, professor of education at the University of Turku (Finland) and a clinical music therapist for more than 25 years says, “Although music therapy is used for people of all ages, it is especially beneficial for older persons with dementia who may be unable to communicate in any other way. Music can function, for instance, as an interpreter of the (patient’s) world picture without the problem essentially connected with verbal interaction.” 2
Watch as Henry comes to life, not only with the music but after as well.
“Since dementia is a degenerative condition, expressing basic needs and being understood can become problematic and lead to a complicated feeling of isolation for sufferers. Using songs in a therapy setting promotes communication.”
David Aldridge, editor of Music Therapy in Dementia Care
The Music in George
George Gershwin, a prolific songwriter, died too young. In his last year of life, he exhibited a decline in motor skills. Unbeknownst to him, he suffered from a temporal right hemisphere cerebral tumour. Despite a decline in many of his functions, his musical abilities remained intact almost to the end of his life.
“George Gershwin lived a life that is testimony to the power of music. Part of the reason that his physicians and friends missed the diagnosis is that he continues to compose great music right up until the final weeks of his life. The gorgeous final song that George and Ira wrote together carries the bittersweet title Our Love is Here to Stay.”3
Music Makes a Difference
Kathleen says, “I see examples of this power of music almost every day when I work. It might be something like a 98-year-old resident asking when her mother will arrive, and in the next sentence joining me from memory singing the lyrics of a meaningful song. It might be working with a resident with a rich musical past who ‘forgets” they can play an instrument but with the right approach their hands find the notes and they remember. It might be using music to reminisce, distract, soothe and most of all, connect.”
Music Until the End
Hearing is the last of our abilities to leave us as we die and music can be a powerful and comforting element to palliative care. Often the family will request familiar music be played when they can’t be there. My most poignant memory is of Valerie, who lived with us for many years. Her signature song was, You are my Sunshine, and she grinned when we nicknamed her “Sunshine.” As she lay unresponsive in her last days, a care partner went into her room, took her hand and sang into her ear, “You are my sunshine…”
Music reaches us. Beyond dementia, pain, emotional turmoil and the finality of death, music reaches into our souls. Today, make use of this marvellous, many-faceted resource. Pick up your harmonica, tap the piano keys, sing with abandon.
Turn up the music!
[1] Music Therapists, key to your health. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.musictherapy.ca/
3 Kogan, R. (2016). THE BERT AND PEGGY DUPONT LECTURE MUSIC AND MEDICINE: GEORGE GERSHWIN. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5216494/
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