Music Therapy In Dementia Patients: Write A Prescription For Some Good Tunes To Get Better Brain Health!

I recently looked over a report on the Wall Street Journal website about the use of music therapy in dementia patients. The content indicated that one of the criticisms of iPods is that persons who use them are likely to avoid relationships with other folks and stay in an isolated universe of their own. However, recent studies of stroke and dementia patients are showing that iPods and other MP3 players often have the contrary effect.

By listening to some old often encountered tunes, advanced dementia patients can reconnect with their memories and with others in some astonishing ways, especially for folks with degenerative brain diseases. To cite an example, according to the Journal, listening to rap and reggae on a borrowed iPod each day prompted a 28-year-old stroke sufferer to learn to walk and make use of his hands again.

In another occurrence, a 52 year-old man who fell out of a fourth-floor construction site and suffered a crushed larynx became so captivated with music that he has written 400 songs and produced four albums. An 85-year-old dementia patient in Florida listens to her favorite opera and Yiddish songs every 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 very effective. They have observed for decades that dementia sufferers can remember and sing songs for some time after they have stopped recalling names and faces. Hospitals and nursing homes have been using music as recreation for a long time, because it brings patients pleasure. Now, beyond the pleasure value, there is important evidence that listening to music can also help stimulate apparently lost memories, and even help reclaim cognitive function in some cases. (via IPod Therapy for Alzheimer's Patients, WSJ.com)

As a old-timer myself I am a big fan of iPods and similar devices for senior citizens. I myself have an iPhone, which is pretty much an iPod with a phone built into it. I am cognizant that many of you will be suspicious because you think such devices are too confusing for seniors. However, as research as shown, using complicated devices can be quite effective in reducing memory loss due to aging. Now we realize that the musical features can be helpful even for those who have already suffered cognitive decline.

Well, okay, you might 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 amazingly beneficial for those who are willing to be imaginative and thoughtful in applying its use. IPod music therapy in dementia patients is a classic illustration.

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