If you are passionate about seniors you will love this story.
A week or so ago I came across a news story that a film about dementia was being shown at the Sundance Film Festival. I did some digging, found the Music & Memory Website, read about what they were doing and got really excited so I reached out to Dan Cohen and asked for an interview. My first inclination was to jump right into telling you about what he is doing, but that would be wrong. You need to watch the video clip below. They will amaze and astound you. They will inspire you. This video from the movie is about six minutes long. It starts out a little slow but when you get to about 2 minutes into it, you will not want to end.
What it’s All About
Music & Memory is a not-for-profit that is dedicated to bringing the power of music to dementia sufferers. At the heart of what Dan and his organization are doing is providing individuals suffering from dementia with ipods that contain a musical playlist that is created for each individual. The Music & Memory program is being used in more than 425 locations and includes skilled nursing, assisted living, hospitals, hospice, home care and adult day care.
The Impact
Dan listed three huge impacts the Music & Memory program is having on participants and on the senior living communities using the program. 1. Reduction of antipsychotic medication – They are consistently seeing senior communities being able to reduce the number of residents who are being giving antipsychotic medications by at least 50%. 2. Improvement in cognition by as much as 50% – This for me was the most remarkable of the three. Imagine for a moment a drug that increased cognition by 50% in dementia sufferers. It would be a smash hit. The longer video above is a great demonstration of this in action. Not only is it remarkable for the individuals with dementia it becomes a cathartic tool that actually gives these loved ones back to their families. 3.Residents Become More Social – This seems counter intuitive because we know putting an ipod headset on a teenager instantly turns them into antisocial zombie. But what happens is that music brings to the surface long lost memories that give families, friends and volunteers something to talk about. . . a powerful way to connect. Particularly compelling is that this program has been in use for as long as 7 years at some sites and is still going strong.
Don’t Try This On Your Own
Well ok . . . you can try this on your own, but what Dan has found is that communities try it and get stuck because ipods get lost or stolen, play lists never get fine-tuned and there are important issues like copyright laws that prevent you from legally making copy after copy of commercial music. Dan charges a one-time fee to help you get started. Still worried about the cost. He has found this program resonates extremely well with scout troops, service clubs and church groups to fund his training and purchase or solicit donations of ipods. Here is the Music & Memory Website Steve Moran
If you like this article (or even if you don’t) it would be a great honor to have you subscribe to our mailing list HERE.
Beautiful!! Really shows the amazing impact music has on people. I hope this keeps expanding as I have seen responses from people I would have thought were “out of it” light up, open their mouths and sing full songs! Thank you for sharing this
Awesome video! Music is very powerful, and a great way for people with Dementia to connect,and come alive. It’s all about approach,and these people have figured it out.The side benefit of reducing medications is also a huge benefit.Thanks for sharing the video.
From LinkedIn Groups
Something to think about. I am prepared to make the investment of the time and energy will blog the results for our facilities as we progress. Thanks for raising the forum note. Dorothy
By Dorothy Stone
From LinkedIn Groups
This is a real gem, Steve.
Thanks for sharing the story and website with us!
By RonnDa Peters
From LinkedIn Groups
Great video, Steve. I also saw another one recently about a woman who sings and strokes a woman’s face and the woman who seemed very inward, began singing and responding. Music and touch are both important. Thanks for sharing this video.
By Gabriella Ambrosi
From LinkedIn Groups
Amazing story. Music is the key to unlock memories and allow them to return to who they once were. Inspiring.
By Linda Deland
From LinkedIn Groups
Thank you, Steve, this was a great way to start to my day. Watching Henry sing and talk about his feelings and beliefs about music after wearing his iPod was amazing. Dr Oliver Sachs’ explanations of what I was seeing in Henry made this clip even more uplifting.
I needed some inspiration today to continue working on a dementia exercise program proposal and this was it.
I
By Holly Bonasera
Great share Steve!
Hi Steve,
I work for Pacifica senior living and one of our communities, Pacifica Northridge, is currently the only AL/MC in CA with this program. They were featured on the local news on the LA area a few months ago and I went to the community just last week to see it on action and they had a person from UCLA there to film the program in action. They are very successful with it , in fact so much do that at our annual ED meetings this past December they did a presentation on the program. We are looking to implement it in more Pacifica communities as well- that’s why I was there with a couple of staff members last week, as we are a new property in SD county and our RCFE license should be signed off any day and we’d like to be sure this program is one we implement from the beginning.
If you look up the Pacifica Northridge site you can see a video of residents involved on the program. It’s wonderful.