Music Therapy In Dementia Patients: Use An IPhone In Support Of Memory Recovery!
I just now looked over a broadcast on the Wall Street Journal website about the use of music therapy in dementia patients. The article said that one of the criticisms of iPods is that persons who use them are apt to avoid relationships with other folks and stay in an isolated universe of their own. However, recent study of stroke and dementia patients are showing that iPods and other MP3 devices routinely have the contrary end results.
By listening to some old well known music, advanced Alzheimer's patients can relink with their memories and with one another in some surprising ways, especially for folks with degenerative brain problems. For instance, as stated in the Journal, listening to rap and reggae on a borrowed iPod each day prompted a 28-year-old stroke patient to resume walking and make use of his hands again.
In another instance, a 52 year-old man who fell from a fourth-floor building site and suffered a crushed larynx became so fascinated with music that he composed 400 songs and produced four albums. An 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient in Florida listens to her favorite opera and Yiddish songs each day on an iPod with a home health aide or her daughter when she comes to visit. According to her daughter they listen for somewhere around one-half hour a day and "It seems to touch something deep within her."
Caregivers have been aware for many years that music therapy in dementia patients can be profoundly effectual. They have observed for decades that Alzheimer's patients can remember and sing songs long after they have stopped recalling names and faces. Hospitals and nursing homes have been using music as enjoyment for a long time, since it brings patients pleasure. Furthermore, beyond the enjoyment value, there is meaningful evidence that listening to music can also help stimulate apparently lost memories, and even help reconstruct cognitive function in some cases. (via IPod Therapy for Alzheimer's Patients, WSJ.com)
As a senior citizen myself I am a big supporter of iPods and similar devices for senior citizens. I myself have an iPhone, which is basically an iPod with a phone built into it. I am conscious that many of you will be dubious because you think such devices are too challenging for seniors. However, as research as shown, using complicated devices can be quite efficacious in reducing memory loss due to aging. Now we have discovered that the musical capabilities can be helpful even for those who have already experienced cognitive decline.
Well, okay, you might not want to actually leave an iPod in the hands of a person who is experiencing Alzheimer's, but such a device can certainly be used, under supervision, to provide the kinds of music therapy in dementia patients set out in this article. Technology can be great for those who are willing to be imaginative and thoughtful in applying its use. IPod music therapy in dementia patients is a perfect example.