Enhancing Senior Living with Music
What can relieve seniors of boredom, facilitate social interaction, and bring mental and medical benefits? Music! Enhancing senior living with music is a gateway to a host of benefits to seniors.
Read on about how music benefits seniors and especially seniors who are in rehab.
Listening to music has so many benefits. It is a true gift to mankind. This is a cost-effective therapy, it is medically uncomplicated. It is practical and simple to arrange.
Music in all its forms, in its glory, is here to help.
General Benefit of Music for Seniors
Music stimulates the brain as nothing else does, says an otolaryngologist (doctor for the head and neck) in John Hopkins. In his words, it gives the brain a “total workout”.
Music stimulates parts of the brain that we would use for architectural and mathematical understanding.
Calm and sweet melodies cause a person to feel positive emotion, by causing the release of dopamine. “Dopamine” is a natural chemical in the body that sends messages between nerve cells in the brain. This hormone/chemical can bring a person to feel elation, reduced stress and reduced anxiety.
The right kind of music can be used for prevention. Blood pressure and heart rate can be kept at a lower rate by listening to slow music.
A study showed that, ‘stress markers’ in blood samples were reduced when people listened to music.
People with pain, feel the pain differently when they listen to music. The greatest advantage of listening to music might be that it is a form of therapy that has no negative side effects, nor does it cause medical complications. This is pain management in its purest, most natural form!
Music as a Cure for Those in Rehabilitation
Music can help people who are in rehab in many ways:
- Reduce stress and anxiety
- Relieve pain
- Encourage happiness
- Improve quality of sleep
- Better memory
- Improve mood
- Mental alertness can be aroused
- A bridge between patient and visitor for communication
- A topic to talk about
- During physical therapy, motivate patients to work out for longer
- Possibly boost the immune system
Most patients would be permitted to listen to music by their doctors or surgeons. If in doubt, ask the medical service provider.
A note of caution: If using headsets, pay attention to the volume. Loud music played through a headset can damage the hearing.
It is interesting to note that there are studies showing that a person who cannot hear, still benefits from the vibes of music in a similar way to a person who can hear.
Music Suggestions
Here are a few selected tracks to start you off on a musical journey.
For healing
For relaxing
For happiness
For inner strength
We have seen that there are many aspects to enhancing senior living with music.
There are so many benefits from listening to music, many of which support medical healing and emotional function. The pleasure and enjoyment that a person feels when hearing music, is one more important aspect of enhancing senior living with music.
Photo by Ivanna Blinova on Unsplash