Choir for People With Dementia and Caregivers Provides Harmony

Listening to and performing music offers emotional and behavioral benefits for people with dementia, and a program in Indianapolis is a case in point, reports WFYI . The program is a choir organized through a partnership between the Resonance Initiative and CICOA Aging and In Home Solutions. The Song Shape chorus is currently comprised of 28 people with early- to mid-stages of dementia and their caregivers. Choir director Rick Cobb says music holds a special place in the mechanism of memory, citing research showing that dementia sufferers still have the ability to learn new music. "They may be losing language and comprehension on the left side of the brain," he notes. "On the right side of the brain, they still retain the ability to sing and to do rhythm and poetry." Butler University Professor Tim Brimmer adds that "music can prescriptively, proactively reduce or prevent many of the terrible things that happen when we age." His own research demonstrated that personalized playlists for people with dementia helped mitigate symptoms like agitation and confusion.