The Top Tips for Non-Verbal Communication with Alzheimer's Patients

Music can be a fun way to break through Alzheimer’s disease. There are several reasons why playing soft music or music from the era of your loved one is good. Music therapy can “soothe the troubled heart.” Here are some benefits music offers for Alzheimer's patients:

• Music brings back memories. Playing music while doing everyday activities helps develop a rhythm that boosts cognitive ability.
• Music appreciation is one of the last remaining abilities in patients with Alzheimer’s. Music can reach your loved one as nothing else can.
• Music brings on physical and emotional closeness. Alzheimer’s patients lose the ability to share emotions with their caregivers. Through music, and if they are able, your loved one can often dance. Dancing leads to security and touching.
• Singing is engrossing. Singing sessions engage more than just the brain. Singing activates the left side of the brain and listening to music increases activity in the right side.
• Music therapy can accomplish positive interactions and management of stress. Music can shift moods, facilitate cognitive functions, and coordinate motor movements.