HJNO Mar/Apr 2024

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  MAR / APR 2024 53 Melissa Brunvoll Marketing Director Assisted Living and Nursing Care Lambeth House music therapy can provide a calming effect for the resident. She has also seen behavioral changes throughout her work with music therapy, and while she knows music is not magic, Fortmayer claims it can work wonders. This sentiment is echoed by Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. 4 According to Northwestern, “musical interventions have been shown to decrease a patient’s agitation” as well as “improve communication” for Alzheimer’s patients. Borna Bonakdarpour, MD, a neurologist at Northwestern, says, “When we use musical intervention, we’re looking for areas and networks in the brain that are intact to serve as bridges and help the areas that are not working well.” He goes on to explain, “Singing, for example, can be a bridge to communicating better through language.” Furthermore, Bonakdarpour asserts that musical intervention can help people with dementia improve their mood and social engagement because it activates a part of the brain that is still intact for Alzheimer’s patients. This can help stimulate other parts of the brain that are typically not functioning as well with those who are suffering frommemory loss and dementia. While music therapy provides many benefits for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, it can also be extremely beneficial for their caregivers as well. Bonakdarpour has conducted studies focusing on the communication between Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers. He found that “musical intervention improved the agitation and anxiety of both the patient and their caregiver” and that “social communication between the pairs improved in both verbal and nonverbal ways.” He found that communication actually got worse in his control group of pairs where musical intervention was not introduced. In a powerful statement, Bonakdarpour exclaimed, “People with Alzheimer’s may come alive again when they hear music. Some start dancing alone or with their caregivers, which is a very big deal. … Caregivers find the person lost to them in the context of music.”While more research is needed to fully understand the benefits of musical intervention and music therapy, one thing is evident: Music therapy is a great resource for both the person suffering with Alzheimer’s disease as well as their caregiver. n REFERENCES 1 Bleivel, M.; El Cheikh, A.; Sadier, N.S.; Abou-Ab- bas, L. “The effect of music therapy on cognitive functions in patients with Alzheimer’s disease: a systemic review of randomized controlled tri- als. Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy 15, no. 65 (March 27, 2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195- 023-01214-9 2 Alzheimer’s Association. “Art and Music.” Ac- cessed January 2024. https://www.alz.org/help- support/caregiving/daily-care/art-music 3 American Music Therapy Association. “About Music Therapy & AMTA.” Accessed January 2024. https://www.musictherapy.org/about/ 4 Northwestern Medicine. “Music as Medicine for Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia: Music In- tervention May Increase Communication.” Last updated July 2022. https://www.nm.org/health- beat/healthy-tips/emotional-health/music-as- medicine-alzheimers-dementia for a client, where they listen and monitor their emotional response to the music. Meredith Fortmayer, activities coordinator for St. Anna’s at Lambeth House, is a certified music therapist and utilizes both techniques when working with residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia. According to Fortmayer, one of the last skills that a resident with Alzheimer’s disease has is their ability to listen to and enjoy music. Residents that are no longer able to carry on meaningful conversations are able to sing along to songs and remember lyrics that they have known their whole lives. A gifted musician, Fortmayer leads sing-alongs multiple times a week and loves playing “Complete the Lyric” with her memory care residents. She says, “It is amazing what they can remember, because the music provides such a good cue.” Another favorite is “Guess the Melody,” where residents have to concentrate and guess the song based on the melody, not the words. Fortmayer says that residents have a lot of fun seeing what they can recognize by melody alone and that it helps boost their confidence and mood when they are able to correctly identify a tune. Fortmayer also utilizes music therapy to help encourage participation amongst residents with dementia. She says that she finds a higher level of engagement and enjoyment with the musical activities than those that do not involve music. If someone is having a bad day, or is agitated, “Whenwe usemusical intervention, we’re looking for areas and networks in the brain that are intact to serve as bridges and help the areas that are not working well.” — Borna Bonakdarpour, MD