The power of music as a form of therapy, especially wonderfully seen with our aging loved ones with dementia. 

Read the following fascinating account of what occurred on a memory loss hospital ward when the music changed everything!

“She began strumming an acoustic guitar and singing: “Fly me to the moon / Let me play among the stars / Let me see what spring is like …” The effect was immediate. Chins lifted from chests, eyes opened. Smiles flickered on one or two faces. A woman began to sing certain phrases: “on Jupiter and Mars … in other words … hold my hand.”

“Over the next 45 minutes, Zhang fanned the fragile spark of group attention into a steady blaze with a string of standards (“Blue Moon,” “Catch a Falling Star,” “You Are My Sunshine”) and got nearly every person singing along. Between verses, she called out questions: “Who sang ‘Singin’ in the Rain’?” A white-haired woman said, “Gene Kelly!” “What is the girl’s name in Wizard of Oz?” A woman in the second row blurted out, “Dorothy!” “And her dog?” “Toto!” “That’s amazing!” Zhang cried.

“These people who, before the music started, would not have been able to recall the names of family members or the career they had pursued for 40 years — nor had they been able to break free of the inward-turning silence in which the dementia’s disease had wrapped them.”

Consider how you can use music to enliven the spirit and life of your loved ones with dementia. When talking becomes hard for them, turn on the music! Bring music to visit them in their facilities; play “their” music at home with them!

Then please enjoy the results and let us know how much it helped!