Music Therapy In Dementia Patients: Write A Prescription For Some Good Tunes In Support Of Memory Recovery!
I not long ago looked over a writeup on the Wall Street Journal website concerning the use of music therapy in dementia patients. The content stated that one of the criticisms of music playback devices is that persons who use them are likely to shun communication with other people and stay in an isolated universe of their own. However, recent monitoring of stroke and Alzheimer's sufferers are showing that iPods and other MP3 devices in many instances have the opposite end results.
By listening to some old familiar songs, advanced Alzheimer's patients can reconnect with their memories and with one another in some extraordinary ways, especially for people with degenerative brain conditions. For example, as stated in the Journal, listening to rap and reggae on a borrowed iPod every day prompted a 28-year-old stroke sufferer to learn to walk and make use of his hands again.
In another incident, a 52 year-old man who fell from a fourth-floor construction site and suffered a crushed larynx became so absorbed with music that he composed 400 songs and made four albums. An 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient in Florida listens to her beloved opera and Yiddish songs each day on an iPod with a home health aide or her daughter when she visits. According to her daughter they listen for somewhere around one-half 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 extraordinarily efficacious. They have observed for decades that dementia sufferers can recall and sing songs for some time after they have stopped recalling names and faces. Hospitals and nursing homes have been using music as diversion for a long time, because it brings patients pleasure. Now, beyond the pleasure value, there is meaningful evidence that listening to music can also help improve apparently lost memories, and even help recover cognitive function in some cases. (via IPod Therapy for Alzheimer's Patients, WSJ.com)
As a senior citizen myself I am a big fan of iPods and comparable devices for senior citizens. I myself have an iPhone, which is basically an iPod with a telephone built into it. I am cognizant that many of you will be doubtful because you think such devices are too confusing for seniors. However, as research as shown, using complicated devices can be quite effective in minimizing memory loss due to aging. Now we discover that the musical capabilities can be helpful even for those who have already suffered cognitive decline.
Well, okay, you may not want to actually leave an iPod in the hands of a person who is experiencing Alzheimer's, 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 highly beneficial for those who are willing to be creative thinkers and farsighted in applying its use. IPod music therapy in dementia patients is a perfect illustration.