Music therapy: striking the right chord with people with dementia

Music makes you happy, evokes emotions and memories and moves you forward. Music therapy has been used for years for people with mental complaints and behavioral problems. Music therapy can also offer a solution to people with depression and thus provide a better quality of life.

Music can go deep into people’s memories and thus reveal someone’s feelings and thoughts. Especially in people with dementia, music appeals to skills that are not yet affected by the disease. As a result, music can cause behavior change in a positive way. People who can no longer speak (aphasia) and therefore can no longer express themselves, can still sing a song. If verbal speech is no longer possible, the music therapist can sing to the client about the past and present. If the words can’t even sink in, familiar sounds can create a sense of safety and well-being in people with advanced depression and reduce anxiety.

‘Medication is still too often prescribed for behavioral problems related to depression. But many medications have unwanted side effects. We would prefer to see music therapy applied to elderly people with dementia,” says Anna-Eva Prick, researcher and lecturer in the Development of Knowledge of Professional Therapies at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. And the first results are impressive: music therapy seems to be an effective way to improve the quality of life for elderly people with dementia.