Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy (part 5)

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A Place for Mom

“[Music therapy] is not going to change the course of the disease,” cautions Hanser, “but it will allow the person to temporarily engage and be much more capable of communicating more clearly.”
Two Types of Music Therapy
Hanser and her more than 3,200 colleagues of the American Music Therapy Association practice two types of music therapy: active and passive. Familiar and, most importantly, likable, music elicits the best responses. For example, Big Band music motivated social interaction more than making a puzzle in one 1993 study, and another study that same year found playing music of a patient’s choosing six days a week reduced his or her agitation.
Music therapists work directly with family members, caregivers, and patients to find the best music for a desired goal of dementia therapy, such as to “improve memory,” “lower agitation,” or “improve cognitive skills.” According to Tomaino, music can be used mnemonically to “retune” the brain to remember certain tasks during early stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia. But in later stages, music is most helpful in maintaining motor skills. In all cases, music is known to reduce anxiety and stress while increasing attention, motivation, and focus.
Unlike passive music therapy, or simply listening to live or recorded music, active music therapy uses real instruments, such as drums, harps, harpsichords, or the voice, to engage a patient in play. Hanser once helped a man with Alzheimer’s and his wife..............read more of Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy, tomorrow