Martha lives in the memory care wing of a senior community. When the therapist entered the room for a music enrichment group, Martha was snapping at other residents and insulting the staff. The therapist overheard a visitor saying about Martha, “She’s always such a nasty woman.” During the session, Martha smiled, participated, and gave her tambourine to a resident who came in late. After the session, the therapist observed Martha calling a staff member over to “please” get a tissue for the resident next to her who needed one. One of the staff shared later that Martha’s mood improvement lasted for hours that day. She was more social during lunch, and she was more cooperative when she needed some help with a hygiene task after lunch. She even laughed at one point when the staff member was providing assistance in the bathroom, which was not a typical occurrence.

Robert has Parkinson’s Disease. The music therapist has been engaging him in individual neurologic music therapy sessions where music is used to help him strengthen the muscles he uses when walking, and to improve his gait. After several sessions plus a home program, Robert told the therapist he feels more sure of himself when he’s walking— that he’s not so afraid of falling. His wife shared that when they take their regular neighborhood walks, he’s looking ahead more often instead of down at the ground.

In addition to her teaching career, Dorothy was an amateur songwriter and musician before her stroke. She played often at open mics. With the support of the music therapist during group sessions, Dorothy repeatedly sang one of her original songs to the group while strumming the therapist’s guitar. After many sessions, the other group members now sing along with the chorus of the song. And recently in a separate rhythm group, another program participant initiated singing Dorothy’s song with no prompting. The whole group joined in, and Dorothy just beamed.

Joan has dementia, and her family has shared that— although she’s being treated medically for anxiety— she finds little peace, walking around the house almost continuously, even when she’s at home. When she’s engaged in a meaningful activity, she’s more content, but her family caregivers are pulled in a lot of different directions at home… and they’re exhausted. When the music therapist is at the home working with Joan, she is attentive and stays seated the whole time. She smiles, sometimes sings, and even reminisces about the past with the therapist. Joan’s daughter in California shared with the rest of the family that when she was on the phone with Joan one day after a music therapy session, Joan was much more positive than usual, and was able to express herself more easily— or at least she tried to express herself more. The therapy sessions have been so successful that the family has added enrichment sessions every other weekend. The daughter-in-law takes that hour to leave the house and take care of herself, while the son prefers to join in with the sessions because he says it gives him a time to engage in a really positive way with his mom. He said he sees more of his mom “the way she used to be” when she’s engaged in singing and music-making. Most weekends, the teenage granddaughter also chooses to participate in the session. Joan sometimes calls the sessions “parties.” The family shared that she’s less anxious after these “parties.”

Steve and Barry both have dementia. Steve has a lot of intact skills, while Barry has lost a lot— especially in terms of language— which has led to him avoiding social situations with friends and family as well as at the day program where he attends a couple times a week. Steve has “taken Barry under his wing.” Both men are part of a rhythm group that the music therapist leads at the day program. Barry is really drawn to drums, and he’s completely engaged during the groups. Staff have noticed that he looks at other program participants much more than usual when he’s in the rhythm groups. One day, while the therapist was collecting instruments, Barry initiated playing a little rhythm for Steve on Steve’s drum, and Steve answered back on the drum. This went on for a while, and the other group members patiently watched. When they ended their drum “conversation.” the other group members clapped and the staff cheered. It was more social initiation than staff had seen yet from Barry.

Belinda is 73 and recently lost her husband to cancer. She’s struggling with grief, loneliness, and a lack of identity now that she’s no longer a caregiver 24 hours a day. Before her husband got sick, she attended a lot of concerts. At this point, she’d loosened her connections with friends, and she’d abandoned most of her hobbies and interests, including music. Her counselor suggested she attend the rhythm group that the music therapist was holding at the senior center every other week over the summer. Belinda had fun for the first time in a while. She said she felt “free, and more like herself” than she’d been since her husband got sick, and at one point she said, “I can’t believe I can DO this!” After a few sessions, Belinda connected with one of the other participants, and they’ve gone out for coffee a couple of times since. In addition to making a new friend, she reconnected with a couple of her existing friends that summer and brought one of them for the last two sessions.