Do music provide a natural remedy for dementia?

by Crisanto Andrada Consultant

Today, dementia is rapidly becoming a major health issue, especially in older people aged above 65 in the Philippines. Dementia is a health disorder that results in loss of thinking, remembering and reasoning skills that may affect the patient’s ability to perform everyday activities. This disorder often leads to depression, reduced hygiene, anxiety, becoming suspicious, sleep and communicating difficulties. According to a study, it has been found that playing any musical instrument can help to treat dementia to some extent. Let us see how.

Playing a musical instrument has two main motives – hobby or profession. Some play it for themselves as they just simply love to play and some learn to play because it is their passion and they want to pursue their career in the musical fields. For every musician, whether aspiring or professional, can start playing a musical instrument at any age. Of course, music is a wonderful brain stimulus for people of every age including senior citizens. So if you have any instrument laying around in your home, help a dementia patient get hold of and start playing it. It will keep them engaged and make them happy and also develop a sense of achievement.

    • Improved hygiene: Encourage them to start their day by playing along with singing or humming happy songs as it will improve their dressing and morning hygiene activities.

    • Kills boredom: A sense of engagement while composing some good music can help them break away from the repetitive behavior such as asking the same question again and again, or repeating an activity.

    • Better communication: It helps them to communicate https://globalmusic.ph/is-music-a-form-of-communication/ better as they can express themselves better through the music that they have composed. It also allows them to sing along and therefore gain the benefits of joining in a social activity.

    • Improved sleep: By ending the day with some calming music, it helps to ease restlessness, anxiety, anger. By creating a peaceful environment, bedtime routines become comfortable and end up in a good night’s sleep.

    • Recall memories: Playing a musical instrument requires full focus and creativity to produce music and therefore it helps the elders to recall good old memories. Therefore, to some extent, it helps them to concentrate and memorize.

Therefore, encourage the elders in your house, whether, they are suffering from dementia or not to avail of all of the above benefits. This Christmas, gift them with a good quality musical instrument from the online music instrument store in the Philippines.