There’s a special power in music and it can take you back in time to another place, or a familiar face. It’s a power not even Alzheimer’s disease can touch.
“It’s deep, deep, deep in the brain, so it’s unaffected by cognitive disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease,” Pamela Atwood, director of Dementia Care Services at Hebrew HealthCare in West Hartford said. “I can take someone who is so advanced they can’t speak anymore, put them in front of the piano and if they used to play the piano, they’ll be able to play all the old hymns or patriotic songs.”
Last year, Hebrew HealthCare became the first long-term care facility in the greater Hartford area to harness this power by adopting the Music and Memory program. After training and certification, the program was implemented; the results over the past year, Atwood said, have been remarkable.
Using donations of iPods, headphones and iTunes gift cards, staff assemble personalized music playlists tailored to each individual dementia patient. Residents and their family members are consulted to determine the “soundtracks” of their individual lives -- songs that evoke memories, bring comfort, improve mood or simply get the patients talking.
“You get the right song for the right person and they wake up and start engaging,” Amanda Aaron, director of Life Enrichment said, “and having these really amazing and meaningful conversations with the people that care for and about them.”
It’s an innovative way to improve quality of life for residents – with a ripple effect on their loved ones.
“I have one resident, and she listens to three or four songs off her playlist in a row, and it’s a very specific set of songs,” Aaron said. “And at that point, she will reach over and grab her husband’s hand, and turn and say ‘I love you.’”
The Music and Memory program at Hebrew HealthCare is generously supported by the William and Alice Mortensen Foundation which covered staff training, the purchase of a laptop and program implementation. The staff and volunteers collect old devices (iPod Shuffle, Nano or Touch) or iTunes gift cards for the purchase of music. Cash donations for the program are also accepted.
To donate a used iPod or to give iTunes gift cards, call 860-523-3885; or for monetary donations call the development office at 860-523-3994.
For more information visit http://www.hebrewhealthcare.org/.
