Social singing lifts dementia blues
27 April 2021
A therapeutic music outreach program is improving the mental health and wellbeing of people with dementia and Alzheimer s disease, according to a study from The Australian National University (ANU).
The Music Engagement Program (MEP), initially developed by researchers at ANU, assists people with Alzheimer s disease and dementia. It s different to other music interventions; it s not me standing in front singing at people, we sing together, ANU researcher and program facilitator Dr Georgia Pike-Rowney said. This study provided us with evidence of the impact of the music making beyond its entertainment value something we have always known anecdotally.
Maverick has a big fan in 81-year-old Henry Pearce, a resident at Uniting Mirinjani, Weston, who was reunited with the four-year-old miniature horse on Tuesday (December 15).
IT was a teary moment for staff at Uniting Mirinjani nursing home in Weston when Henry Pearce, 81, was reunited with Maverick, a four-year-old miniature horse.
In more normal times, Maverick visits nursing homes and hospitals for pet therapy but since the outbreak of covid, he has been prevented from visiting the elderly residents of Mirinjani from his home in Bungendore.
Residents stayed in touch during the pandemic through weekly 45-minute “walks” around the farm over FaceTime.