Healing With the Beat: Music Therapy and Dementia
Dementia and Alzheimer’s are thieves, robbing those afflicted of their quality of life and identity.
The National Institutes of Health notes that as of 2025, 6 million Americans were affected by dementia, with Alzheimer’s serving as the most common cause in older adults.
Treating the loss of memory, reasoning, and other cognitive abilities isn’t an easy feat and doctors are constantly researching alternative therapies to help those suffering.
𝙀𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧: 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙮.
Music intervention therapy benefits dementia patients by building bridges to communication, improving moods, cognitive functionality, and even motor skills.
If music therapy perks your ears as a potential remedy for the dementia symptoms your loved one is experiencing, here are some pointers for gradually introducing music therapy into their routine.
1 . 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘀𝘁
Caregivers starting music therapy for their patients benefit from consulting with a music therapist, even just for the first few sessions.
Music therapists are trained to identify the personalized needs of their clients. They take into consideration where, when, and how to play music and search for reactions indicating progress and those requiring redirection.
2. 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
When’s the last time your loved one had their hearing checked or their hearing aid settings adjusted?
Hearing loss causes social withdrawal and the impact of this isolation on cognitive health exacerbates dementia.
𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙨. Regular hearing screenings catch changes in hearing quality and provide a space for patients to communicate their hearing concerns to their audiologist 👩⚕️.
3. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮
Excess noise in the room can create sensory overload. Prepare your therapy area by shutting windows and doors and turning off TV, tablets, or other noise-producing devices.
𝗣𝗥𝗢 𝗧𝗜𝗣: Optimize hearing aid settings with your audiologist! Hearing aids with AI-powered environment adaptability and background noise reduction settings will enrich music focus (𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗨𝗦 𝗣𝗥𝗢 𝗧𝗜𝗣—Basin Hearing carries Phonak hearing aids equipped with all these features 😉).
4. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀
Determining which music types to play is paramount to music therapy.
Music from teens to early 20s helps with long-term memory loss. It also encourages recall and generally boosts spirits.
However, some music may cause anxiety or feelings of compromised safety. This is another instance in which music therapists can lend their knowledge by advising on selections and patient response.
5. 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀
Play music using platforms that aren’t interrupted by commercials. Stopping and restarting music in the middle of listening can cause dementia patients confusion. Instead, use a paid, commercial-free subscription service on a phone or throw it back to physical media with a CD 💿 or mp3 player.
6. 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴
Interacting with music via movement and singing brings an entirely new layer to music therapy.
Movement like clapping and dancing 🕺 not only underscores joy, but the rhythm and beats can help people walk better! Rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) supports improved walking speed, stride length, and builds confidence in movement and balance.
Singing 🎙️connects dementia and Alzheimer’s patients to communication channels their brains have blocked. By applying different neural pathways our minds use during signing, ordinary speech can improve because of music therapy!
🎶 Restoring hearing and communication uplifts the standard of living and, of course, enriches music therapy! 🎶
𝘽𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒔🦻.
𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 📞 (𝟳𝟬𝟭) 𝟱𝟳𝟮-𝟭𝟬𝟳𝟳 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕❗