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What symptoms of Alzheimer’s do you generally intend to remedy with music therapy?

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What symptoms of Alzheimer’s do you generally intend to remedy with music therapy?

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Increase quality of life: This is probably one of the most common goals due to music's impact on mood and memory. We use what's called "client preferred music" throughout the session which we get by asking family members, staff, or by taking music that was popular in the individual's early adulthood and looking for some sort of positive response from popular tunes from that time. We can use the music to assist in relaxation, regulation, mood improvement, and general enjoyment.

Maintain fine or gross motor movement: This may be through playing instruments or doing movement to music.

Maintain cognitive function: This may be through creating musical mnemonics to help with activities of daily living or remembering significant names/dates/numbers. This is also where you may hear about music and memory. Often, due to how music is networked across the brain, individuals may be more likely to remember songs than common facts or information about themselves. Frequently, we ask questions related to songs they prefer that may open up opportunities for them to remember biological information about themself. An example would be taking a song like "take me out to the ballgame" and following up with questions about their favorite sports teams or times they went to sporting events. This is really popular across media, however, the reason it is different when music therapists do it, is because we also know to look for music as a potential to cause harm. You never know if the music you are using is associated with a negative life experience such as a funeral, especially if the individual has limited verbal language.

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What specific methods do you most often use with patients with Alzheimer’s?

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What specific methods do you most often use with patients with Alzheimer’s?

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Methods will vary based on the goal being addressed. That being said, common interventions we use include instrument playing (typically with light, handheld percussion instruments like a drum, shaker, or tambourine), movement to music (typically directed by the therapist), song re-creation (using a popular song and encouraging the client to sing or play along), music for regulation (using music to decrease agitation, slow heart rate, or relax) and what is called music-supported reminiscence ... to support memory recall.

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Are the terms “receptive music intervention” and “active music intervention” common or well-used terms in your field?

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Are the terms “receptive music intervention” and “active music intervention” common or well-used terms in your field?

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Yes! Both terms are very common and refer to the types of “interventions” or actives/methods we utilize. Both terms are exactly what they sound like, so if you are taking examples, I mentioned from question two such as song re-creation, movement to music, or instrument playing, we would consider that an active music intervention because it requires active participation from the client. Receptive experiences are common when doing goals targeting relaxation or regulation. You also see this used more commonly in later stages of Alzheimer’s due to limited verbal language and increased difficulty with movement.

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How often do you implement receptive music therapy? Do you play individualized music for your patients or do you select songs for them? Would you say you implement active music intervention or receptive music intervention more often?

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How often do you implement receptive music therapy? Do you play individualized music for your patients or do you select songs for them? Would you say you implement active music intervention or receptive music intervention more often?

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While I typically use both in the course of a session, I would say active music experiences tend to be more common than receptive experiences. This may be different if working with an individual client with late-stage Alzheimer’s. I believe I touched on the second part of the question as well in question 1, however, to be more specific, you may be able to estimate what songs were popular in early adulthood (think 18-30) by using the year the client is born. Asking the client directly or a family member what music they like is ideal when possible. Again, this is referred to as “client preferred music,” which is proven to be far more effective than unfamiliar songs with this population.

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Do you recommend other sorts of interventions to patients? Do patients often use your therapy along with pharmaceutical remedies?

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Do you recommend other sorts of interventions to patients? Do patients often use your therapy along with pharmaceutical remedies?

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We sometimes work with families and recommend some techniques to assist in communication and regulation outside of sessions. This might include validation (you can look more into this if you’d like but simply search “validation and Alzheimer’s”) or listening to music with their loved ones. Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s has limited pharmaceutical options. Many times, patients are taking medications to reduce discomfort or manage other preexisting conditions, but not necessarily to address the Alzheimer’s.

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How long do patients generally participate in your music therapy?

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How long do patients generally participate in your music therapy?

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We consider Alzheimer’s clients as “ongoing” due to the degenerative aspect of the disease. Typically, the individual will continue to decline until they move on to hospice care. Very often, we see clients an hour per week, every week, as long as the family or facility wants them to participate.

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Thank you so much for participating! I recognize that you don’t have any obligations to do this, and I really appreciate your willingness to help. Are there any other topics you would like to mention?

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Thank you so much for participating! I recognize that you don’t have any obligations to do this, and I really appreciate your willingness to help. Are there any other topics you would like to mention?

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If you are interested, you can look into ITA’s “Musical Bridges to Memory” program. It is a good way to see how music therapy can be used to help those with the disease as well as their families.