Your Loved One with Alzheimer’s and Music: One Way to Create an Uplifting Visit

Needless to say, it’s heartbreaking to witness let alone care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease. And, as time goes on, the disease progresses, making it harder and harder for the patient to connect with the outside world. Often times, the best and only practical solution for care is to send the person you love to a facility that accommodates patients with severe memory loss. Your loved one has been slipping away mentally for quite some time. Now, you’re facing the physical separation as well.

However, amidst the sadness, there is perhaps some good news. Many studies have shown that the parts of the brain responsible for remembering music are either not affected at all or aren’t nearly as affected as other parts of the brain in patients with Alzheimer’s. So, what does this mean for a visit to try to connect positively with your loved one? 

It means to turn on the tunes, but not just any tunes. Instead, try to find music that the patient prefers. In fact, according to neuroscientist and author Daniel J. Levitin in his book This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, due to certain aspects of the brain’s hard wiring, most people prefer music that was popular during their teenage years. So, do the math if necessary and look up what people were listening to when your family member or friend was, say, age 16.

Many people, too, whether or not it was popular in their teens, prefer certain musical styles like jazz, classical, opera, heavy metal, reggae or musical theater. So, you may do well simply sticking with a favorite genre. Does your loved one enjoy singing? Then sing! In any case, music may very well create a lot fun and light in the midst of what could otherwise be a grave situation.

Whether this all sounds too good to be true or not, here are some stories of success with favorite music for people who’ve lost much of their memory:

• In February, 2019, NBC News released a special report on a growing movement of treatments for Alzheimer’s patients: singing in choirs. In the report, a former magazine editor diagnosed with Alzheimer’s spoke about how music, specifically singing, helped her connect and understand what was happening to her and what was going on around her. 
• A now-famous You Tube video from April, 2012 shows a man named Henry in a long-term care facility who’d lost so much memory he was mostly unresponsive and couldn’t recognize his daughter, lit up like a firefly while listening, singing and moving to music of his youth that was played on headphones. After the headphones were removed, a clinician asked Henry all sorts of questions about the music Henry loved. Henry answered in intelligent words and in song.
• Alzheimer’s patient Brian LeBlanc, diagnosed 5 years prior to a May, 2019 article on musicandmemory.org stated that music “lifts the fog.” He had made his own playlist of 500 songs he loves and sets specific times throughout the day to listen to songs from his list. He said that the music brings a sense of calm and that he can easily sing along with the lyrics of each and every song on his list. In fact, he says that the song lyrics visually scroll through his mind as he is singing. LeBlanc recommended that everyone, memory loss or not, devise their own playlists for their own peace of mind.
• A 2014 documentary called “Alive Inside” shows many examples of how music therapy has helped Alzheimer’s victims and their families. Dan Cohen of Music and Memory places headphones on several different patients documented in the film. The Alzheimer’s patients all become expressive in response to the music.
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So, the next time you’re going to visit a loved one with memory loss, consider the potential in music. Try playing favorite songs or genres. Consider hiring a music therapist if the facility doesn’t already have a program in place. Or, speak to the activities director about employing a music therapist. If the stories above are any indication, there’s a good chance of a very uplifting visit and more. If you are considering memory care as a part of your assisted living or nursing home care facility in Somerset County, consider the possibilities of Bridgeway Care and Rehabilitation. 

Bridgeway Senior Care and Rehabilitation
395 Amwell Rd.
Hillsborough, NJ 08444
(908) 281-4400

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