Individual Music Therapy for Agitation in Dementia: An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Trial Caregivers and nursing home employees often report increased burnout when working with individuals with dementia who are exhibiting signs of agitation. Unfortunately, agitation is a very prevalent symptom in patients with this diagnosis. Agitation can present as aggressive, abusive, and inappropriate behaviors. Increased agitation levels also cause increased distress in these individuals, and in turn, increase the level of medications they receive. Constantly feeling agitated can also lead to lower quality of life. That is where music therapy can play a key role in the treatment for individuals with dementia who experience this difficult symptom. A contrasting thought…
How Does Music Listening Change the Brain for those with Alzheimer’s disease? After watching a video for a recent training, I was simply blown away when the presenter shared the results of this study. I already knew that when a patient with Alzheimer’s disease listened to music that they knew, that they were often able to sing the words and it brought a smile to their face. I had witnessed that in numerous sessions in the past, but what I didn’t know was just how much the music penetrated the brain of the patient. In a pilot study by Fischer, Churchill, Leggieri, Vuong, Tau, Fornazzari, Thaut and Schweizer, researchers examined…
Continue readingMusic Therapy in US Corrections: Philosophy, Practice, and Protocols of Music Therapists Working with Incarcerated People in the US Kayla Stubblefield, MT-BC When you think of settings in which music therapists work, the first facility that comes to mind may be a school, a hospital, or a nursing home. Oftentimes, people are surprised when hearing that music therapy can benefit those in correctional facilities. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, having 1 out of 5 people incarcerated in the United States. Approximately 7 million people who are serving parole or probation are under oversight of the U.S. correctional system, with roughly 2.3 million people…
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