Neurologist Oliver Sacks famously said, “In forty years of medical practice, I have found only two types of non-pharmaceutical ‘therapy’ to be vitally important for patients with chronic neurological diseases: music and gardens.”
Music has power to bring back memories, lift our moods, and express our emotions—but research shows its positive effects are even more powerful than you might think. Enjoying music is more than just a way to pass the time, it’s truly life enriching. Music can help us cope with grief, alleviate depression, promote communication, and even help with cognition and pain management. That’s why our Fieldstone communities offer music activities and events for our residents. You’ll discover sing-alongs with local musicians, guest performers, dancing, and even opportunities for creating playlists that are unique to each resident’s musical taste and memories. With regular music listening and activities, people can experience lasting positive effects.
In fact, music therapy is an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals. Music activities shown to have a positive long-term effect include creating, singing, moving to, and/or listening to music. Research supports music therapy effectiveness in helping with overall physical rehabilitation, facilitating movement, increasing engagement, and encouraging emotional expression of feelings.
In older adults with Alzheimer's, dementia, and other mental disorders, music therapy has been found to reduce aggressive or agitated behavior, reduce symptoms of dementia, improve mood, and may also decrease the risk of heart or brain diseases in elderly dementia patients.
Most of us have felt the restorative power of music at one point in our lives. Whether bringing us feelings of calm or that nostalgic connection with the past—music can transport us. See for yourself how music can surprise, delight, awaken, and connect us:
Please check your community’s activity calendar and be sure to join LifeLoop so you can see upcoming music events and activities at Fieldstone. We invite you to join us at our next music event.
Sources:
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/music-as-medicine-for-seniors-156581.htm
https://www.musictherapy.org/about/musictherapy/
