New Study Uses The Power Of Music To Soothe Dementia Patients And Caregivers

During his first year as a medical student at Penn State College of Medicine, John Bufalini watched in awe as an elderly woman and her husband joined hands to dance to rock ’n’ roll hits from decades before in an assisted living facility. 

“That was when I first witnessed the true power of music. I watched a quiet woman go from sitting in a chair passively interacting with her world to a lively lady dancing around the room. I also saw her husband enjoy every step of that transformation as well,” mused Bufalini. 

The now-internal medicine resident witnessed the touching moment while collecting data for a research study investigating the effects of personalized music interventions on people with dementia and their caregivers. 

Of course, this wasn’t the foremost study of its genre that showed music could help improve the quality of life for individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, but it was one of the first that looked into how it could benefit patients’ caregivers. 

“Caregivers experience significant joys but also burdens in caring for their loved ones and are overlooked in many studies. The number of caregivers, often family members, continues to grow as the world ages and dementia incidence increases,” explained Daniel George, Associate Professor of Humanities and Public Health Sciences. 

“We hypothesized that personalized music would lead to increased interpersonal interactions between residents and their caregivers, and that it would foster a greater sense of well-being,” he added. 

As noted by the researchers, dementia—of which more than seven million Americans were diagnosed within 2020—has a significant impact not only on the patient’s cognitive function, but family ties and friendships.

Music, which elicits emotion-based memories, could potentially be a way to help sufferers stay connected to others as the illness progresses. 

Over the course of the study, caregivers reported feeling less overwhelmed after listening to eight customized music sessions lasting 15 minutes each, with the scientists observing they came across as more positive and optimistic, and shared a deeper bond with the patients. 

“Given the substantial challenges in drug development for dementia, approaches that engage the sense and connect with something quintessentially human are our best tool,” remarked George.

“Personalized music-based interventions might help caregivers provide assistance to their loved one who has memory loss. They may also improve the caregiving experience by reducing stress and caregiver burdens,” he concluded. 

[via Penn State University, cover image via Ammentorp | Dreamstime.com]