Benefits Of Music Therapy For Older Adults

Riverside Nursing Home

Almost everyone enjoys the health advantages of music, including improved sleep and better states of mind. People have also been using music as a type of therapy over the last few years. It can have pronounced effects on seniors in Riverside nursing home or elsewhere. Here, we will discuss the advantages of this therapy for elderly people.

Better Cognition

Music can positively impact a senior citizen with dementia. University of Utah researchers discovered that hearing familiar tracks increased connectivity in many brain regions. The finding indicates that music is likely to aid dementia patients in better connecting to their surroundings.

It is also thought that music relieves mental depression symptoms. It does not appear that mental illness affects the part of the human brain that gets stimulated when listening to a track. Several senior care industry professionals have spotted their withdrawn clients seemingly becoming more active after hearing music from their younger days.

More Socialization

Music can bring individuals together at weddings, concerts, or even a long-term care facility such as a nursing center in Riverside. A music therapy program should encourage its participants to interact with each other as it can aid them in forging friendships and reducing loneliness.

It is also possible to foster familial bonding with music. Senior citizens can play their favorite tracks from their younger days for their grandkids, and those children can familiarize their grandparents with current hits. Over time, they may discover that they have similar music tastes.

Inspire Mobility

Some tracks are so energetic that they make people wish to dance. As per scientists, movement and music go hand in hand, which is perhaps since both can stimulate the reward centers of the human brain.

A music therapy program can encourage older adults with difficulty staying active to engage themselves with music, through clapping, dancing, etc. Research has demonstrated that some amount of exercise can improve our state of mind.

Grief Management

As an experience, grief is universal but people process it differently. Some seniors grapple with a sense of loss after their loved ones pass away or due to changes in their mental and/or physical health conditions. A music therapist or two can work with a senior citizen to compile meaningful tracks that may aid them in coping with grief, mental and physical health issues, etc.