A Few Faves from Memory Care
Every Thursday, I spend a majority of my day at a retirement/memory care facility in the community. I have the pleasure of working with two memory care groups, a resident choir, and a keyboard class. This facility has introduced me to some of the kindest, funniest, most musically inclined and gentle spirited people. I have found that there is truly something special about the way music brings out the personalities and emotions of those residents living with memory loss. There is so much joy in small interactions or exchanges that remind me that I love doing what I do.
Some of my favorite moments happen very subtly amongst the memory care residents. The residents in these groups have a wide range of physical, cognitive and verbal abilities depending on their stage of memory loss. I tend to take my time interacting with those clients with further progressed memory loss, specifically those that are non-verbal and typically non-responsive in conversational situations.
In my second month, I was co-leading with a team member and she was singing the folk song ‘I Love the Mountains’. The chorus of the song has a catchy phrase of ‘boom dee ah da, boom dee ah da, boom dee ah da, boom dee ah da’ that the residents love to join in on. One of the further progressed residents that is non-verbal and oftentimes looking off into the distance during group began to light up as the group continued singing the song. I had never heard her sing or talk, even when asked direct questions and had observed her as having low engagement or response during sessions. After the 3rd or 4th repetition, her face was alive and she was singing the boom dee ah da chorus. I could hardly contain my joy!
There are several moments where clients have alertly sat up after a cat nap when they hear the group singing, and even join in themselves by singing, clapping or tapping their foot. Or moments where residents interject in discussions or songs to swear that they had met the artist that wrote it or performed it. These moments of spontaneous engagement aren’t limited to passive participation, they also come alive during more structured and interventions like TIMP interventions.
During TIMP (Therapeutic Instrumental Movement Performance) interventions, each client gets an instrument (typically a maraca, small tambourine or hand bells) and is prompted to follow along with my visual, musical or verbal movements. I have had several laughing fits when residents begin to freestyle/improvise dance moves. You would never expect to see a 90+ year old man in a wheelchair to stand up and shimmy while you’re singing ‘Shake Senora’.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a Music Therapy intern, it’s that sometimes the best moments aren’t the ones you expect and play for, but they’re the ones that happen spontaneously, amidst the laughter, smiles, jokes and music that we create together.
- Mia Falcon
