The George Mason University Mason Music & Memory Initiative (M3I) educates nursing facilities on how to use personalized music playlists to access long-held joyful memories and positive emotions, to ease the symptoms of and improve the quality of life of persons living with dementia.
Research on the Music & Memory program has found numerous benefits of personalized music for individuals with a wide range of symptoms.
- Personalized music helps relieve the cognitive and physical challenges of those living with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia by reconnecting them with the world through music-triggered memories.
- Studies have even found that personalized music has the potential to awaken certain aspects of the personality of a resident with moderate to advanced-stage dementia. This awakening may allow the largely non-verbal individual to communicate with his family and caregivers, sing and experience joy and love, and lessen agitation. These calmer moments can also indirectly improve staff work experiences and caregiver quality of life.
- For more information on studies highlighted through the National Music & Memory® Program, please click the following link and scroll down to Featured Research: https://musicandmemory.org/resources/
- We are presently wrapping up data collection and analysis on the research portion of our initiative and will report our findings upon completion. In the meantime, click here for results from our study at Adult day health centers.
We understand that the findings mentioned above can seem hard to believe so we included two videos below as an example of the power of music.
If you are convinced that including personalized would benefit the residents at your facility, the next step is to get your colleagues and staff on board. We have a few resources to get you started:
This guide was developed by the national Music & Memory® team and includes:
- More in-depth discussion of the therapeutic benefits of music
- First-hand accounts of the power of music
- Information on the National Music & Memory training program
- Note that we provide a shorter training through George Mason University that is free – information at the Training button below
- Perspectives from care professionals on the therapeutic benefits of personalized music
- FAQs
- Note that there are additional guides available after you click on this link and these are also referenced throughout this toolkit