June 15, 2022 • 24 mins
Music has the power to alter people's emotions and sentiments in an instant. It has the power to alleviate tension, discomfort, difficulty, and distraction while also bringing enjoyment and tranquility into our life. Music has the power to unite people in a number of ways.
Music is being utilized to treat various memory-loss-related disorders such as dementia in the medical field. According to several studies, persons with Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia can benefit emotionally and behaviorally by listening to or singing music. Because major brain regions associated with musical memory are generally unaffected by Alzheimer's disease, musical memories are frequently maintained.
In this podcast, we are joined by Joshua Vickery, Chief Executive Officer, Encore Creativity for Older Adults. Joshua talks about the importance of music in our lives and how it affects our memory. He also suggested that music be utilized as a treatment for those suffering from memory disorders. He also discusses how music therapy might aid individuals with dementia and how it is gradually becoming recognized as an alternate treatment approach.
Key Takeaways
The Importance of Music in the Journey with Dementia
Individuals with Dementia how Music is Beneficial with Challenging Behaviors
The Difference between Listening Music and Therapeutic Music
Music Genres, Instruments, Singing, and Procedures Incorporated into Music Therapy
Things about the Sentimental Journey Singer Program
Music Therapy and the Impact of Care Partners on Dementia Patients
The Medical Community Recognizes Music Therapy's Benefits
Joshua's Personal Experience with Music Therapy with Patients
How to Join the Organization and What are The Things to Look at to be a Music Therapist
Quotes
We all know that music is universal; we all like music, regardless of our age or stage in life, and music is associated with memories. - Joshua
Music therapy is unique in this regard. Music therapy involves competent professional health care therapists who use treatments to promote therapeutic effects, such as employing music. - Joshua
Featured in this Episode
Joshua Vickery
Chief Executive Officer, Encore Creativity for Older Adults
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-vickery-02441463
Website: https://encorecreativity.org/
Contact Details: 410-2160-350
Perry Limes
Director, Strategic Partnerships
Hospice of the Chesapeake
Profile: https://www.hospicechesapeake.org/perry-limes/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/perrylimes
Thanks and Appreciations
We'd like to thank the John and Cathy Belcher Institute for their generous support of our community outreach and education programs.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:04 Joshua Background
03:38 The Role Music Play in the Journey with Dementia
05:15 Specific Behaviors of Dementia where Music is Beneficial
07:46 Therapeutic Music versus Listening Music
09:14 Procedures and Things used in Music Therapy
12:32 Sentimental Journey Singers
14:46 The Impact of the Care Partners on Dementia Patients
15:52 Medical Community Seeing Benefits with Music Therapy
17:04 Personal Experience of Joshua on Music Therapy with Patients
19:38 Joining the Music Therapy and the Organization
21:13 Online Sessions
21:54 Conclusion
Music is being utilized to treat various memory-loss-related disorders such as dementia in the medical field. According to several studies, persons with Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia can benefit emotionally and behaviorally by listening to or singing music. Because major brain regions associated with musical memory are generally unaffected by Alzheimer's disease, musical memories are frequently maintained.
In this podcast, we are joined by Joshua Vickery, Chief Executive Officer, Encore Creativity for Older Adults. Joshua talks about the importance of music in our lives and how it affects our memory. He also suggested that music be utilized as a treatment for those suffering from memory disorders. He also discusses how music therapy might aid individuals with dementia and how it is gradually becoming recognized as an alternate treatment approach.
Key Takeaways
The Importance of Music in the Journey with Dementia
Individuals with Dementia how Music is Beneficial with Challenging Behaviors
The Difference between Listening Music and Therapeutic Music
Music Genres, Instruments, Singing, and Procedures Incorporated into Music Therapy
Things about the Sentimental Journey Singer Program
Music Therapy and the Impact of Care Partners on Dementia Patients
The Medical Community Recognizes Music Therapy's Benefits
Joshua's Personal Experience with Music Therapy with Patients
How to Join the Organization and What are The Things to Look at to be a Music Therapist
Quotes
We all know that music is universal; we all like music, regardless of our age or stage in life, and music is associated with memories. - Joshua
Music therapy is unique in this regard. Music therapy involves competent professional health care therapists who use treatments to promote therapeutic effects, such as employing music. - Joshua
Featured in this Episode
Joshua Vickery
Chief Executive Officer, Encore Creativity for Older Adults
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-vickery-02441463
Website: https://encorecreativity.org/
Contact Details: 410-2160-350
Perry Limes
Director, Strategic Partnerships
Hospice of the Chesapeake
Profile: https://www.hospicechesapeake.org/perry-limes/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/perrylimes
Thanks and Appreciations
We'd like to thank the John and Cathy Belcher Institute for their generous support of our community outreach and education programs.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:04 Joshua Background
03:38 The Role Music Play in the Journey with Dementia
05:15 Specific Behaviors of Dementia where Music is Beneficial
07:46 Therapeutic Music versus Listening Music
09:14 Procedures and Things used in Music Therapy
12:32 Sentimental Journey Singers
14:46 The Impact of the Care Partners on Dementia Patients
15:52 Medical Community Seeing Benefits with Music Therapy
17:04 Personal Experience of Joshua on Music Therapy with Patients
19:38 Joining the Music Therapy and the Organization
21:13 Online Sessions
21:54 Conclusion
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
Hello, and welcome to life,death and what Matters in between. I'm
your host, Perry Limes, andtoday I am joined by Joshua Victory,
Chief Executive Officer, Encore Creative forOlder Adults. Good morning, Joshua,
(00:29):
Hi, Good morning, Perry.Thank you for having me. I'm glad
to be here. Awesome, awesome. So we are traveling on our journey
with dementia, and in today's program, we're going to talk about the power
of therapeutic benefits of music. Andmusic is universal. Everybody is touched by
(00:50):
music in some kind of way.So with that said, Joshua, I
like for you to tell us alittle bit about yourself, give us a
background on what you do, andgo for it. Yeah. So I
am now honored to be the firstever CEO of Encore Creativity for Older Adults.
(01:11):
Where are the nation's largest and fastestgrowing choral arts programs for older adults,
located multiple cities and communities. AndI started my journey. I just
moved here six months ago from Orlando, Florida to the Annapolis DMV area.
And I started my journey in churchmusic as a choral conductor and did that
(01:36):
for many years and then transition towhile Disney Entertainment, which was a very
different line of business as an entertainmentleader and casting director. And in that
started the nonprofit that I founded intwo thou and ten and led for twelve
years called Central Florida Community Arts,which was a very large arts organization choirs,
(02:00):
theres, youth programs, dance programsfor all ages and all abilities across
the Central Florida region. And soafter leading that for twelve years, I
realized that my passion really lies aroundcreating opportunities for older adults and was thrilled
when I was offered the opportunity tocome and lead this awesome organization that is
(02:24):
incredible. I was gonna say,hopefully you're bringing some of that good Orlando
weather with you up here. Idon't know, though, this here is
almost nay, it's still a littlecold, so I must not be doing
too must be doing too good.You know, Maryland weather is a little
schizophrenic, but it's a great placeand you're in a great area of the
(02:46):
States, so welcome to our area. So before we get started, as
we've discussed in previous episodes, tohelp us better understand person's journey with dementia,
We've created a composite patient and hisname is Joe. And this patient,
(03:07):
Joe lives with his wife, Veronicafor the past forty years and has
adult daughters who live out of state. At this stage of Joe's journey with
dementia, Joe's daughters are curious aboutadditional techniques and interventions, such as music,
that may be helpful for individuals withdementia. So, keeping Joe in
(03:30):
mind, when you think of aperson with dementia, what role does music
play in their journey with dementia.Yeah, it's a beautiful question. So
we all know it when you saidit. Music is universal that all of
us, no matter where chapter weare in our life stage, we enjoy
music. And music is connected tomemories. If you think about, you
(03:54):
know, when your kids were growingup, or when you went to prom,
or the first you know song youblasting when you got your first car.
You know, there's music is sointerwoven in parts of our life and
part of our journey. And fortunately, the last part of our brain that
tends to go is the part thatrecognizes music. And so as we understand
(04:19):
about about music and we understand aboutmemories and how those two are connected.
That's why music and programs with dementiahas become so important over the last you
know, couple of decades, andso music helps us to kind of come
out of that space and be ableto really remember things that were important.
(04:45):
Wow. That's you know, it'sinteresting when you say that, you know,
being a middle aged adult now youcan kind of look back on your
life in different decades and you canpick out songs that have meaning to you
because you remember where you were duringthat time and during that era. So
it's just good to kind of putthat all together. Are there any specific
(05:10):
behaviors or conditions related to dementia wheremusic can be beneficial? Yeah? Absolutely.
I mean we have seen just musicbe so powerful in rehearsals, you
know, whether it's early to midstages of cognitive impairment, of phasia,
just other ways that the brain isaffected, brain health is affected. Music
(05:31):
is powerful in those scenarios. Wehave seen people who have come into rehearsal
who have been completely non responsive,who aren't really quite sure why they're there
or don't remember being at that rehearsalspace before, and at times might even
be a little bit belligerent, butonce they get into that rehearsal space and
they're sitting there with their care partnerand they do hear music that they have
(05:57):
connected with memories or that was importantto them, their face lights up,
their chin lifts, and they singevery single word for memory, and it's
beautiful to see that connection happen andtheir eyes really light up. I think
equally, Perry, that's beautiful isthe care partner who's sitting right beside their
(06:19):
loved one, who get just aglimpse of seeing them really really come to
understanding. And those residual effects thatwe've heard from our care partners happens for
hours, sometimes days after experiencing musicin that way. That's amazing. So
(06:40):
it's interesting, it's kind of goodsegue into my next topic about music therapy.
So my first interaction with the musictherapists, I was actually in a
room where music therapy was brought inand the gentleman, as you said,
was non responsive for quite some time, and the daughter wanted to inter be
(07:02):
very much like Joe's daughters, andthe music therapists asked the daughters what was
his favorite who was his favorite artist, and they said John Denver. So
the music therapist played a song andit was like by verse two when she
(07:23):
was singing to him, he startedto kind of join in and sing the
verses. So, needless to say, kleenex was in abundance in the room,
including myself or crying because it wasjust amazing to see this man light
up just from hearing this song.So with that said, what is the
difference between music therapy, therapeutic musicand just enjoying music. Yeah, good
(07:47):
question, and that's a big topicin the health community. You know,
music therapy has been on the scenelonger than these types of programs that we're
talking about. Now, we've knownfor generations that music is powerful to the
brain, but in this kind ofum, you know, actual identified way,
(08:09):
like the programming that we're doing.But music therapy is different in that
music therapy is with skilled professional healthcaretherapist who are using interventions to produce health
outcomes, and for us, inthe programs that we're doing, you know,
we are you know, using musicto create therapeutic outcomes. So there
(08:33):
is a little bit of a differencebetween those two. So with that there
certain instruments, is singing involved becauseI know my experience with music therapy um.
Some of them would actually sing alongwith the songs the therapeutic music that
encore Um is offering. Are therecertain instruments and genres of you and say
(09:01):
how does that work? Yeah,so there aren't instruments per se. There
is a piano that our conductor leadsfrom. There's a lot of movement and
so sometimes that's in the chair,sometimes that's standing. But we find that,
you know, partnering music and movementtogether is extremely helpful. So there's
there's movement, there's poetry reciting,there are kind of brain exercises that we
(09:26):
enterweed with the musical experiences, butwe really treat sentimental journey singers, which
is our program for people with earlystages of nicia as a choir, so
they get the sheet music, youknow, it's it's a little bit larger
print and all of that, butthey have a choir folder. Their care
partner helps to make sure they're atthe rights, you know, music,
(09:48):
the song, and we pick songsthat we know that the demographic that comes
to cinemal Jenner singers would recognize.These are these are titles that anyone and
every everyone would know that was onthe radio through their early years. And
so there's music, there's movement,there's a piano, and then there's songs
(10:09):
that we know that they can connectto. So Joshua, I understand with
the sentimental journey singers that they focuson different genres of music. And you
know, with the great Tsunami orthe baby boomers really growing in mass and
(10:33):
utilizing a lot of healthcare benefits rightnow, that's the population that's really being
affected by dementias. There's a certaingenre or time period of music that the
singers focus on to to kind ofhelp kind of stir those memories and bring
out those great feelings. Yeah,and as you were saying, you know,
(10:56):
the population that we serve, althoughit can be all ages, tends
to be in the people in theirseventies and eighties. And so if you
kind of backed that up to thosereally beautiful years of our life, we're
becoming who we are in our twentiesand thirties, and that's so much of
attached that it's really the music fromthe forties and fifties. More of the
(11:16):
fifties actually, I know, there'sso many great hits that happened that you
just kind of stuck in your brain, and so we find that for similar
journey singers, the hits of theforties and fifties tend to be the most
popular. That's awesome. I guessyou probably may have a few patients that
I want to get up and dance. Yeah, you know, dancing is
(11:37):
a big part of what we do. I kind of downplayed it by saying
movement, but there are definitely somespontaneous dance breaks that happened in rehearsal.
Oh that's beautiful, beautiful. I'mglad you brought that up, because,
you know, as we moved througha more and more diverse world and and
(12:00):
really try to make services accommodating toa particular population. Um. Culturally,
um, you look at gospel musicwhere some folks might like that versus country
MUSICUM or blues UM. I guessit's the therapy therapeutic music kind of moving
(12:24):
towards that depending, as you say, towards the audience or that specific individual
or group. Yeah, that's areally interesting point. You know, we
try to create a very you know, diverse group of music specific to the
population that we're you know, currentlyworking with. But you know, as
time goes that music will definitely change. I mean thirty or forty years and
(12:48):
now we might be singing Beyonce,you know, in sentimental that's what that's
what our population remembers and loves andunderstand. So, yeah, we create
diverse genres. You know, wemight have hymns because that's people group in
the church and they know they're hymnsbetter than anything. So we try to
(13:09):
create, you know, diverse offeringsof music specific to what our current age
and population really would would attached to. But that will change, you know,
as as music diversifies, as um, you know, artists change,
you know, thirty years and nowsomebody might not know who, you know,
Judy Garland is or whatever. SoI think we are diverse in our
(13:33):
selections, but we have to alsostay relevant to how our population continues to
age. Awesome. Our Core Creativityhas a specific community based music program for
those with dementia and their care partnerscalled Sentimental Journey Singers. Can you share
a little bit about that program.Yeah, So Sentimental Journey Singers actually began
(13:58):
pre COVID. Our found Georgene Kelly, noticed that in all the different koral
programs that we had that some ofour older adults we're starting to have just
a little bit harder time keeping upwith the sheet music and keeping up with
the experience, and then realize thatthere were conductive impairments or early stages of
dementia, that we're causing those thatto happen. And so she worked with
(14:22):
an organization in Minneapolis to create bestpractices and we launched the Sentimental Journey Singers
pre COVID. Unfortunately, it wasn'tup very long, and then we tried
to move it online, which wasn'treally all that all that successful. But
we've been able to come back andwe are now offering five different locations of
(14:43):
Sentimental Journey Singers, and it's ahuge part of our vision to grow that
program into multiple locations. This isabout a person who's dealing with dementia or
some type of cognitive impairment and theircare partners, so that that's the model
we're both they're able to attend achoir rehearsal and then there's a culminating performance
(15:05):
at the end. One of thethings that's super exciting right now is we
are celebrating our fifteenth anniversary period asan organization, and we are about to
have a huge concert that's strathmore amusic hall, and our Sentimental Journey singers
are getting to perform as a partof that very large concert. So not
only are we creating these great musicexperiences and rehearsals, but we're helping those
(15:28):
deal with dementia to still have greatexperiences in music making and performances. Wow.
That's wow, that's amazing. Howmany singers or how many performers do
you have in this program? Soin Encore Creativity for Older Girls as a
whole, we have about twelve hundredsingers currently involved in Sentimental Journey Singers.
(15:50):
We have about twenty five to thirtysingers that are involved in the programs.
Wow. And it's the impact andnot only for the person with dementia UM,
but their care partners or the caregiver. But what's the impact of this
intervention? Yeah, the impact thatI was saying is really just about you
(16:14):
know, being able to connect witheach other. You know that that connects
in between care partner and the persondealing with dementia, and also really from
a brain health perspective and from acognitive impairment perspective, we do see some
of those residual effects after the rehearsalhappens, So there are many benefits that
(16:36):
happen for the individual, but alsofor the relationship with the care partner.
And it is this something that isusually at the requests of let's say,
the family or the caregiver. Haveyou had anybody from the medical community reach
out to you and kind of askfor referral to say, hey, I
(16:56):
think this would help. I know, as medicine and tries to evolve and
become more holistic, if you would, Are you seeing any of that participation
from the medical community kind of seeingthe benefit of the therapeutic music. Yeah,
the short answer is absolutely yes.When I was in Central Florida,
(17:19):
we received a three hundred thousand dollarsgrant from the hospital system to create programs
like this as a continuum of care. Once those that we're dealing with music
therapy services came out into the communityand so we actually have music therapists who
worked with this programming, which issuper exciting. So we believed that same
type of partnership will happen here withSinemeal Journey singers through Encore Creativity. But
(17:45):
we are seeing that support. Youknow, there's more and more research being
done about how music affects the brain. And so the more that you more
research that comes out, I thinkthe more that our healthcare organizations will be
supporting this type of programming. Iknow that music therapists are already our advocates
for sure, absolutely so I andyeah, and you know, fifteen years
(18:10):
as amazing. Congratulations on that,you know, and that's looking at that
from thirty thousand feet. It's justreally amazing the impact that you have on
these communities. But can you sharea personal story about the impact of that
this program has made that that youhave experienced yourself. Yeah. Well,
one of the beautiful things about myjob as CEO, you know, I
(18:33):
focus a lot on fundraising and partnershipsand you know, all sorts of things.
But when I get to be inrehearsals and be with our singers,
no matter what the age, andour organization is fifty five and old,
are all older adults, and soevery single singer is on a different journey
socially, physically, mentally, emotionally, you know, especially coming out of
(18:55):
COVID, our older adults are arevery much on different page is. But
what's so beautiful is that music bringsthem all together on the same page,
We're all singing the same notes andthe same rhythms and the same message.
And it's it's this moment where Ican see this kind of respite for older
(19:15):
adults, where they can leave everythingat the door and just enjoy the joy
of making music together. And soI see on the faces I can't see
because of the mask their mouths andtheir smiles, I can see their eyes
and their faces, and I cansee the joy that music brings. And
so when as you you know,we have a model a motto of really
(19:38):
singing for life, and so youknow, I know we're focused today on
you know, cinema journey singers anddementia and how that affects music. But
for older adults, on any partof their journey, music is really really
powerful to that brain health and moreimportantly just a friendships and building community and
(20:00):
enjoy So it's neat for me.My personal story is just being able to
sit in a rehearsal and to beable to watch our older adults simply have
a blast. That's so cool.Um, how does one become a part
of this or how do they findyour organization? How do they get involved?
So I guess it's a two partquestion. How if somebody was interested
(20:22):
and said, look, this isreally cool, I want to do this
and maybe help And I don't knowif you audition the way you know American
Idol does, but if there's acriteria, I think, I think I
sing well in the shower and myspouse tells me stop that stop. So
(20:44):
how how would one, you know, look to be a part of this
organization and really help out. Butthen if you're a caregiver and another individual
that wants to utilize this amazing service, how would one contact you or what
would be the process and making thathappen. Yeah, So you can check
out our website Encore Creativity dot org. All the information is there about all
(21:10):
of our programs, whether it's EncoreCorl, Encore Rocks, Encore University,
which is an online learning platform,and of course Symptimental Journey Singers, whether
we are working with a continued retirementcommunity or a senior center or whatever it
may be. All of the registrationsand the information goes through us. So
you can go to our website,you can see all the different offerings and
(21:32):
you can get the information that youneed. You can also call us at
four one zero two one six zerothree five zero. That's our phone number.
So we're happy to help answer anyquestions or get you registered. And
currently we are doing our very bestto make all of the Sentimental Journey Singers
programs completely free, so getting corporatesponsorship, dollars or grants. Currently,
(21:56):
that's how it is and that's ourgoal to continue that. So if you
are listening and you want to supportthat programming in any way, you know,
please reach out to us because ourgoal was to make that beautiful offering
for care partners and their loved onescompletely free. That is great. Before
I conclude, I just wanted toask your encore's online so are any of
(22:22):
your I know, with COVID youwere talking about kind of not being there
and purpose or do you record anyof your sessions? Could people look at
them like, let's say, onYouTube or any kind of social media platforms.
Yes, so all of our weare back to in person programming.
People I must be vaccinated and boostedand wear a mask. So when I
(22:45):
was saying about twelve hundred singers havecome back to in person rehearsals, but
we also offer online rehearsals so ifpeople are not comfortable yet coming out or
singing. They can participate in alive online rehearsal, and then all those
online rehearsals are recorded and can bewatched or taking part of it any time
(23:06):
that's can being yet so we havethey can be in an online live,
watch it later recorded, or bewith us live, any of those three
options for any of our programs.Amazing, amazing, I mean with with
that, you know, we knowthat music can be very powerful for all
of us in our own lives,whether it's the joys or the lows in
(23:27):
our lives, but it's especially forthose living with dementia. I think you
know you're bringing to to light thatthat piece of the music being one of
the last things to kind of goand that hearing. So, you know,
thank you for sharing that, Joshua. So we would love to highlight
Encore creativity for older adults as agreat community resource, especially for those living
(23:52):
with dementia, and we would definitelywelcome you back, Joshua. If there's
any more information, please reach outto the contacts that Joshua has shared with
us. And thank you so muchfor being part of our podcast. Thank
you, appreciate you so much.I appreciate thatpportunity to share. Thank you,
(24:15):
and we'd like to thank the Johnand Kathy Beltra Institute for their generous
support for our community outreach and educationalprograms. Thank you so much for joining us today
Hello, and welcome to life,death and what Matters in between. I'm
your host, Perry Limes, andtoday I am joined by Joshua Victory,
Chief Executive Officer, Encore Creative forOlder Adults. Good morning, Joshua,
(00:29):
Hi, Good morning, Perry.Thank you for having me. I'm glad
to be here. Awesome, awesome. So we are traveling on our journey
with dementia, and in today's program, we're going to talk about the power
of therapeutic benefits of music. Andmusic is universal. Everybody is touched by
(00:50):
music in some kind of way.So with that said, Joshua, I
like for you to tell us alittle bit about yourself, give us a
background on what you do, andgo for it. Yeah. So I
am now honored to be the firstever CEO of Encore Creativity for Older Adults.
(01:11):
Where are the nation's largest and fastestgrowing choral arts programs for older adults,
located multiple cities and communities. AndI started my journey. I just
moved here six months ago from Orlando, Florida to the Annapolis DMV area.
And I started my journey in churchmusic as a choral conductor and did that
(01:36):
for many years and then transition towhile Disney Entertainment, which was a very
different line of business as an entertainmentleader and casting director. And in that
started the nonprofit that I founded intwo thou and ten and led for twelve
years called Central Florida Community Arts,which was a very large arts organization choirs,
(02:00):
theres, youth programs, dance programsfor all ages and all abilities across
the Central Florida region. And soafter leading that for twelve years, I
realized that my passion really lies aroundcreating opportunities for older adults and was thrilled
when I was offered the opportunity tocome and lead this awesome organization that is
(02:24):
incredible. I was gonna say,hopefully you're bringing some of that good Orlando
weather with you up here. Idon't know, though, this here is
almost nay, it's still a littlecold, so I must not be doing
too must be doing too good.You know, Maryland weather is a little
schizophrenic, but it's a great placeand you're in a great area of the
(02:46):
States, so welcome to our area. So before we get started, as
we've discussed in previous episodes, tohelp us better understand person's journey with dementia,
We've created a composite patient and hisname is Joe. And this patient,
(03:07):
Joe lives with his wife, Veronicafor the past forty years and has
adult daughters who live out of state. At this stage of Joe's journey with
dementia, Joe's daughters are curious aboutadditional techniques and interventions, such as music,
that may be helpful for individuals withdementia. So, keeping Joe in
(03:30):
mind, when you think of aperson with dementia, what role does music
play in their journey with dementia.Yeah, it's a beautiful question. So
we all know it when you saidit. Music is universal that all of
us, no matter where chapter weare in our life stage, we enjoy
music. And music is connected tomemories. If you think about, you
(03:54):
know, when your kids were growingup, or when you went to prom,
or the first you know song youblasting when you got your first car.
You know, there's music is sointerwoven in parts of our life and
part of our journey. And fortunately, the last part of our brain that
tends to go is the part thatrecognizes music. And so as we understand
(04:19):
about about music and we understand aboutmemories and how those two are connected.
That's why music and programs with dementiahas become so important over the last you
know, couple of decades, andso music helps us to kind of come
out of that space and be ableto really remember things that were important.
(04:45):
Wow. That's you know, it'sinteresting when you say that, you know,
being a middle aged adult now youcan kind of look back on your
life in different decades and you canpick out songs that have meaning to you
because you remember where you were duringthat time and during that era. So
it's just good to kind of putthat all together. Are there any specific
(05:10):
behaviors or conditions related to dementia wheremusic can be beneficial? Yeah? Absolutely.
I mean we have seen just musicbe so powerful in rehearsals, you
know, whether it's early to midstages of cognitive impairment, of phasia,
just other ways that the brain isaffected, brain health is affected. Music
(05:31):
is powerful in those scenarios. Wehave seen people who have come into rehearsal
who have been completely non responsive,who aren't really quite sure why they're there
or don't remember being at that rehearsalspace before, and at times might even
be a little bit belligerent, butonce they get into that rehearsal space and
they're sitting there with their care partnerand they do hear music that they have
(05:57):
connected with memories or that was importantto them, their face lights up,
their chin lifts, and they singevery single word for memory, and it's
beautiful to see that connection happen andtheir eyes really light up. I think
equally, Perry, that's beautiful isthe care partner who's sitting right beside their
(06:19):
loved one, who get just aglimpse of seeing them really really come to
understanding. And those residual effects thatwe've heard from our care partners happens for
hours, sometimes days after experiencing musicin that way. That's amazing. So
(06:40):
it's interesting, it's kind of goodsegue into my next topic about music therapy.
So my first interaction with the musictherapists, I was actually in a
room where music therapy was brought inand the gentleman, as you said,
was non responsive for quite some time, and the daughter wanted to inter be
(07:02):
very much like Joe's daughters, andthe music therapists asked the daughters what was
his favorite who was his favorite artist, and they said John Denver. So
the music therapist played a song andit was like by verse two when she
(07:23):
was singing to him, he startedto kind of join in and sing the
verses. So, needless to say, kleenex was in abundance in the room,
including myself or crying because it wasjust amazing to see this man light
up just from hearing this song.So with that said, what is the
difference between music therapy, therapeutic musicand just enjoying music. Yeah, good
(07:47):
question, and that's a big topicin the health community. You know,
music therapy has been on the scenelonger than these types of programs that we're
talking about. Now, we've knownfor generations that music is powerful to the
brain, but in this kind ofum, you know, actual identified way,
(08:09):
like the programming that we're doing.But music therapy is different in that
music therapy is with skilled professional healthcaretherapist who are using interventions to produce health
outcomes, and for us, inthe programs that we're doing, you know,
we are you know, using musicto create therapeutic outcomes. So there
(08:33):
is a little bit of a differencebetween those two. So with that there
certain instruments, is singing involved becauseI know my experience with music therapy um.
Some of them would actually sing alongwith the songs the therapeutic music that
encore Um is offering. Are therecertain instruments and genres of you and say
(09:01):
how does that work? Yeah,so there aren't instruments per se. There
is a piano that our conductor leadsfrom. There's a lot of movement and
so sometimes that's in the chair,sometimes that's standing. But we find that,
you know, partnering music and movementtogether is extremely helpful. So there's
there's movement, there's poetry reciting,there are kind of brain exercises that we
(09:26):
enterweed with the musical experiences, butwe really treat sentimental journey singers, which
is our program for people with earlystages of nicia as a choir, so
they get the sheet music, youknow, it's it's a little bit larger
print and all of that, butthey have a choir folder. Their care
partner helps to make sure they're atthe rights, you know, music,
(09:48):
the song, and we pick songsthat we know that the demographic that comes
to cinemal Jenner singers would recognize.These are these are titles that anyone and
every everyone would know that was onthe radio through their early years. And
so there's music, there's movement,there's a piano, and then there's songs
(10:09):
that we know that they can connectto. So Joshua, I understand with
the sentimental journey singers that they focuson different genres of music. And you
know, with the great Tsunami orthe baby boomers really growing in mass and
(10:33):
utilizing a lot of healthcare benefits rightnow, that's the population that's really being
affected by dementias. There's a certaingenre or time period of music that the
singers focus on to to kind ofhelp kind of stir those memories and bring
out those great feelings. Yeah,and as you were saying, you know,
(10:56):
the population that we serve, althoughit can be all ages, tends
to be in the people in theirseventies and eighties. And so if you
kind of backed that up to thosereally beautiful years of our life, we're
becoming who we are in our twentiesand thirties, and that's so much of
attached that it's really the music fromthe forties and fifties. More of the
(11:16):
fifties actually, I know, there'sso many great hits that happened that you
just kind of stuck in your brain, and so we find that for similar
journey singers, the hits of theforties and fifties tend to be the most
popular. That's awesome. I guessyou probably may have a few patients that
I want to get up and dance. Yeah, you know, dancing is
(11:37):
a big part of what we do. I kind of downplayed it by saying
movement, but there are definitely somespontaneous dance breaks that happened in rehearsal.
Oh that's beautiful, beautiful. I'mglad you brought that up, because,
you know, as we moved througha more and more diverse world and and
(12:00):
really try to make services accommodating toa particular population. Um. Culturally,
um, you look at gospel musicwhere some folks might like that versus country
MUSICUM or blues UM. I guessit's the therapy therapeutic music kind of moving
(12:24):
towards that depending, as you say, towards the audience or that specific individual
or group. Yeah, that's areally interesting point. You know, we
try to create a very you know, diverse group of music specific to the
population that we're you know, currentlyworking with. But you know, as
time goes that music will definitely change. I mean thirty or forty years and
(12:48):
now we might be singing Beyonce,you know, in sentimental that's what that's
what our population remembers and loves andunderstand. So, yeah, we create
diverse genres. You know, wemight have hymns because that's people group in
the church and they know they're hymnsbetter than anything. So we try to
(13:09):
create, you know, diverse offeringsof music specific to what our current age
and population really would would attached to. But that will change, you know,
as as music diversifies, as um, you know, artists change,
you know, thirty years and nowsomebody might not know who, you know,
Judy Garland is or whatever. SoI think we are diverse in our
(13:33):
selections, but we have to alsostay relevant to how our population continues to
age. Awesome. Our Core Creativityhas a specific community based music program for
those with dementia and their care partnerscalled Sentimental Journey Singers. Can you share
a little bit about that program.Yeah, So Sentimental Journey Singers actually began
(13:58):
pre COVID. Our found Georgene Kelly, noticed that in all the different koral
programs that we had that some ofour older adults we're starting to have just
a little bit harder time keeping upwith the sheet music and keeping up with
the experience, and then realize thatthere were conductive impairments or early stages of
dementia, that we're causing those thatto happen. And so she worked with
(14:22):
an organization in Minneapolis to create bestpractices and we launched the Sentimental Journey Singers
pre COVID. Unfortunately, it wasn'tup very long, and then we tried
to move it online, which wasn'treally all that all that successful. But
we've been able to come back andwe are now offering five different locations of
(14:43):
Sentimental Journey Singers, and it's ahuge part of our vision to grow that
program into multiple locations. This isabout a person who's dealing with dementia or
some type of cognitive impairment and theircare partners, so that that's the model
we're both they're able to attend achoir rehearsal and then there's a culminating performance
(15:05):
at the end. One of thethings that's super exciting right now is we
are celebrating our fifteenth anniversary period asan organization, and we are about to
have a huge concert that's strathmore amusic hall, and our Sentimental Journey singers
are getting to perform as a partof that very large concert. So not
only are we creating these great musicexperiences and rehearsals, but we're helping those
(15:28):
deal with dementia to still have greatexperiences in music making and performances. Wow.
That's wow, that's amazing. Howmany singers or how many performers do
you have in this program? Soin Encore Creativity for Older Girls as a
whole, we have about twelve hundredsingers currently involved in Sentimental Journey Singers.
(15:50):
We have about twenty five to thirtysingers that are involved in the programs.
Wow. And it's the impact andnot only for the person with dementia UM,
but their care partners or the caregiver. But what's the impact of this
intervention? Yeah, the impact thatI was saying is really just about you
(16:14):
know, being able to connect witheach other. You know that that connects
in between care partner and the persondealing with dementia, and also really from
a brain health perspective and from acognitive impairment perspective, we do see some
of those residual effects after the rehearsalhappens, So there are many benefits that
(16:36):
happen for the individual, but alsofor the relationship with the care partner.
And it is this something that isusually at the requests of let's say,
the family or the caregiver. Haveyou had anybody from the medical community reach
out to you and kind of askfor referral to say, hey, I
(16:56):
think this would help. I know, as medicine and tries to evolve and
become more holistic, if you would, Are you seeing any of that participation
from the medical community kind of seeingthe benefit of the therapeutic music. Yeah,
the short answer is absolutely yes.When I was in Central Florida,
(17:19):
we received a three hundred thousand dollarsgrant from the hospital system to create programs
like this as a continuum of care. Once those that we're dealing with music
therapy services came out into the communityand so we actually have music therapists who
worked with this programming, which issuper exciting. So we believed that same
type of partnership will happen here withSinemeal Journey singers through Encore Creativity. But
(17:45):
we are seeing that support. Youknow, there's more and more research being
done about how music affects the brain. And so the more that you more
research that comes out, I thinkthe more that our healthcare organizations will be
supporting this type of programming. Iknow that music therapists are already our advocates
for sure, absolutely so I andyeah, and you know, fifteen years
(18:10):
as amazing. Congratulations on that,you know, and that's looking at that
from thirty thousand feet. It's justreally amazing the impact that you have on
these communities. But can you sharea personal story about the impact of that
this program has made that that youhave experienced yourself. Yeah. Well,
one of the beautiful things about myjob as CEO, you know, I
(18:33):
focus a lot on fundraising and partnershipsand you know, all sorts of things.
But when I get to be inrehearsals and be with our singers,
no matter what the age, andour organization is fifty five and old,
are all older adults, and soevery single singer is on a different journey
socially, physically, mentally, emotionally, you know, especially coming out of
(18:55):
COVID, our older adults are arevery much on different page is. But
what's so beautiful is that music bringsthem all together on the same page,
We're all singing the same notes andthe same rhythms and the same message.
And it's it's this moment where Ican see this kind of respite for older
(19:15):
adults, where they can leave everythingat the door and just enjoy the joy
of making music together. And soI see on the faces I can't see
because of the mask their mouths andtheir smiles, I can see their eyes
and their faces, and I cansee the joy that music brings. And
so when as you you know,we have a model a motto of really
(19:38):
singing for life, and so youknow, I know we're focused today on
you know, cinema journey singers anddementia and how that affects music. But
for older adults, on any partof their journey, music is really really
powerful to that brain health and moreimportantly just a friendships and building community and
(20:00):
enjoy So it's neat for me.My personal story is just being able to
sit in a rehearsal and to beable to watch our older adults simply have
a blast. That's so cool.Um, how does one become a part
of this or how do they findyour organization? How do they get involved?
So I guess it's a two partquestion. How if somebody was interested
(20:22):
and said, look, this isreally cool, I want to do this
and maybe help And I don't knowif you audition the way you know American
Idol does, but if there's acriteria, I think, I think I
sing well in the shower and myspouse tells me stop that stop. So
(20:44):
how how would one, you know, look to be a part of this
organization and really help out. Butthen if you're a caregiver and another individual
that wants to utilize this amazing service, how would one contact you or what
would be the process and making thathappen. Yeah, So you can check
out our website Encore Creativity dot org. All the information is there about all
(21:10):
of our programs, whether it's EncoreCorl, Encore Rocks, Encore University,
which is an online learning platform,and of course Symptimental Journey Singers, whether
we are working with a continued retirementcommunity or a senior center or whatever it
may be. All of the registrationsand the information goes through us. So
you can go to our website,you can see all the different offerings and
(21:32):
you can get the information that youneed. You can also call us at
four one zero two one six zerothree five zero. That's our phone number.
So we're happy to help answer anyquestions or get you registered. And
currently we are doing our very bestto make all of the Sentimental Journey Singers
programs completely free, so getting corporatesponsorship, dollars or grants. Currently,
(21:56):
that's how it is and that's ourgoal to continue that. So if you
are listening and you want to supportthat programming in any way, you know,
please reach out to us because ourgoal was to make that beautiful offering
for care partners and their loved onescompletely free. That is great. Before
I conclude, I just wanted toask your encore's online so are any of
(22:22):
your I know, with COVID youwere talking about kind of not being there
and purpose or do you record anyof your sessions? Could people look at
them like, let's say, onYouTube or any kind of social media platforms.
Yes, so all of our weare back to in person programming.
People I must be vaccinated and boostedand wear a mask. So when I
(22:45):
was saying about twelve hundred singers havecome back to in person rehearsals, but
we also offer online rehearsals so ifpeople are not comfortable yet coming out or
singing. They can participate in alive online rehearsal, and then all those
online rehearsals are recorded and can bewatched or taking part of it any time
(23:06):
that's can being yet so we havethey can be in an online live,
watch it later recorded, or bewith us live, any of those three
options for any of our programs.Amazing, amazing, I mean with with
that, you know, we knowthat music can be very powerful for all
of us in our own lives,whether it's the joys or the lows in
(23:27):
our lives, but it's especially forthose living with dementia. I think you
know you're bringing to to light thatthat piece of the music being one of
the last things to kind of goand that hearing. So, you know,
thank you for sharing that, Joshua. So we would love to highlight
Encore creativity for older adults as agreat community resource, especially for those living
(23:52):
with dementia, and we would definitelywelcome you back, Joshua. If there's
any more information, please reach outto the contacts that Joshua has shared with
us. And thank you so muchfor being part of our podcast. Thank
you, appreciate you so much.I appreciate thatpportunity to share. Thank you,
(24:15):
and we'd like to thank the Johnand Kathy Beltra Institute for their generous
support for our community outreach and educationalprograms. Thank you so much for joining us today
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