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Connect with a Lifestyle Leasing ConsultantHealth & Wellness | September 21, 2023
The Benefits of Music For Older Adults
By arranging sounds, we create music. But music means so much more to us than this simple definition implies. Through elements like rhythm, melody, and harmony, music expresses ideas and evokes emotions. Music is timeless – bringing back cherished memories, elevating our experiences in the present moment, and giving us hope for the future. While music plays an important role throughout our lifetime, it has a large number of benefits specifically for older adults.
Memory Care & Music
Within our brain, different areas form a network called the limbic system that is responsible for memory, emotion, and movement. According to ComForCare, listening to music lights up areas in this system that helps to stimulate cognitive function and promote self-regulation, perception, attention, and memory. Additionally, music can help older adults maintain language, speech, creativity, and productivity – all important skills that assist in memory care.
Physical Benefits of Music for Older Adults
With music comes, movement! Whether it’s dancing, stretching, our simply tapping your feet to the beat, music is a great motivator to get active. Staying active goes hand in hand with wellness, helping improve mobility and overall health. At Trico LivingWell, our fitness classes like yoga and seated zumba incorporate music for these benefits. Some additional physical benefits of music for older adults include improving sleep quality and the management of physical pain.
Mental Benefits of Music for Older Adults
For older adults, isolation can greatly impact their quality of life, which can lead to depression and anxiety. Web MD notes that music can alleviate symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. Music helps people express themselves when words aren’t enough to explain how they feel. It also provides a medium to connect with one another. Whether it’s connecting with grandkids over the most outrageous new genre of music, or sharing a memory associated with a song from your childhood with a caregiver, music promotions connection.
At Trico LivingWell, our residents enjoy live concerts on a weekly basis in our dedicated theatre as part of our programming and activities. Our Active Body Active Mind Memory Care program also incorporates music to support older adults in our community living with dementia and other cognitive conditions. Interested in learning more? Book a tour with us today! You can also check out the activities our residents enjoy on a weekly basis here.
