Sunday, November 27, 2011

Music Therapy for the Elderly


Music is a part of everyday life, whether heard while shopping, driving, or playing on a stereo, music has the ability to make a person’s day better. Music therapy has been shown to have numerous benefits, including eliminating pain, reducing stress, improving communication abilities, and increasing physical rehabilitation. Music therapy is used in a variety of different cases, from autistic children, to people in rehabilitation, to the elderly. Music therapy is very successful when used with elderly or senior citizens, especially in the case of Alzheimers. Alzheimers patients who slowly lose their mental capacities have been shown to improve remarkably, even for a short period, with music therapy. For example, many nursing homes will have volunteers come in to play music for the residents of the home. Not only does the music help them recognize and remember songs and memories of the past, music also helps them connect with the other people who live in the home. Music is not only beneficial for Alzheimers patients, but also for people with dementia or who are just lonely and depressed to be living in a home. Overall, music is able to improve the health of many and it has the ability of taking away symptoms, whether brightening a person’s day or making someone’s pain go away music is wonderful in helping people of all ages.
~ Lauren Bonham ~
Reference:
http://healing.about.com/od/sound/a/kmucci_music.htm 

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