C. Gorman stated in Time Magazine, “… [W]e lose sight of how powerful melody and rhythm can be in the realm of medicine, particularly with respect to Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers… nursing homes and hospitals are finding that working with a music therapist can make a big difference” (qtd. in American Music Therapy Association). Music Therapy is a powerful tool in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, however, it is only beginning to gain acceptance in the medial community as a form of therapy. Music therapy has many benefits for Alzheimer’s disease patients, such as agitation management, stability, and many others. Music therapy has not always been used in the medical community as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. In the television series Grey’s Anatomy, Dr. Shephard was writing a paper on the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. After twelve hours of work, all he could write was that “Alzheimer’s is a bad disease. We should fix it” (Greys Anatomy 2010). This is a great example of how the medical community struggled with Alzheimer’s disease and how to cure it. While music therapy is a relatively new practice, and many hospitals and other …show more content…
“Music therapy is the clinical and evidence based use of music as a form of therapy to achieve certain goals that a credentialed proffessional music therapist has set for their patient” (American Music Therapy Association). The type of music varies from patient to patient, some respond to old Gospel music, and others respond better to Elvis. This past summer, I had the opporitunity to visit an Alzheimer’s daycare facility in Newton, MS, called Footprints. I brought my guitar, and sang old hymns such as “How Great Thou Art”, and “Amazing Grace”. When I sang, many of the patients who were still able to talk, would sing softly along with me, and those who could not would just sit and