Music-Noise and other Counter Intuitive Dementia Facts

Mom and Dad always loved music. In my early years it was the Country and Western. Now I am here to tell you it was the old time, very twangy Country and Western music, not the modern "cross over" that you now hear. The "tumbling, tumble weed" Hank Williams type music. Later they became "more enlightened" And played modern music like the Beetles!! Whether in the car, at home, or watching TV, we had music. Mom can sing the oldies with the best of them!!

Doesn't it make sense that the use of music would be therapeutic at meal times, during activities and during cares? It just makes COMMOM sense, doesn't it? Well the disease rarely makes common sense and this is true for music.

When you have Dementia, you can focus on only one detail at a time. No multi tasking here. If you are playing Bingo, and have Dementia, you need to concentrate on Bingo. The same is true of eating, you need to concentrate on eating. If you have Dementia, music in the background is simply noise, or worse yet, it is a distracting factor. Again, you can concentrate only on one thing at a time. Now if I am resting and have Dementia, the music is great, because I don't have to concentrate on anything else. Our loved ones have this request, "present me with one thing at a time and I can do pretty well!!" This a simple concept, but not an easy one to remember because it is so counter intuitive. It is important, however, for their highest quality of life and prevention of behaviors caused by the "overload" or over stimulation of trying to concentrate on two things at a time. Music at the right time is great, but knowing when it is the right time is, is most important!!

Thanks. May God keep you in the palm of her hand.