Music Therapy For Seniors
Many people have never heard of music therapy, but it can be incredibly effective with seniors. Music therapy is the evidence-based use of musical interventions by a credentialed music therapist to work toward desirable changes in a client’s life. With seniors, there are many aims of music therapy, but most are about maintaining functional life skills that can easily be lost through social isolation or a progressive disease such as Alzheimer’s or Dementia. In music therapy with these clients, social, cognitive, and physical goals can be set. Physically, music therapy can help maintain mobility and range of motion and increase upper and lower extremity strength. Cognitively, engaging in music therapy can help seniors with information recall, improve reality orientation, and maintain long and short-term memory. Engaging in music therapy socially can reduce stress and agitation, maintain communication skills, and increase interaction and motivation to interact. These very important goals can be achieved through a variety of musical experiences such as singing and playing songs, instrument exploration, movement, songwriting, music listening, and song reminiscence. Almost all of the experiences in music therapy involve the seniors making live music with the music therapist and their peers.
When we work with seniors, it is most often in a group, since an environment that offers the opportunity for interaction with peers is one of the best ways to help them accomplish the above goals. We also use the clients’ preferred music when we work with them. For most people, this is music from their mid-teens to late twenties, since this is the time in our lives when we are most emotionally connected to music. Doing so can help stimulate memories and return our clients to a strong sense of themselves. In addition, the seniors we work with can share beloved music and stories with a music therapist and a peer group that may share similar experiences, increasing feelings of belonging and self-esteem.
NoteAble Measures Music Therapy, LLC