Residents with dementia connect with the music of their lives.
PARIS – Some danced. Some sang.
It was Monday at the Maine Veterans Home, and all of the residents of the Alzheimer’s disease and dementia unit seemed moved by the music.
At 3:30 p.m. sharp, Henry Grenier of Oxford began playing recorded tunes, accompanying them with his keyboard. He featured music that took the residents back to the days when they sang and danced to those songs.
“Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey,” “When You’re Smiling,” “Frankie and Johnnie Were Lovers,” and an upbeat, “Oh, You Beautiful Doll.”
Polly Annance, a volunteer, and Pat Paar, the activities coordinator, took turns dancing with some of the residents.
Some swayed while sitting in chairs and others tapped their toes.
One resident in an oversized wheelchair appeared to be sleeping. His head was back and eyes were shut. But his feet swayed to the music.
“One of the last types of comprehensions to leave people with dementia is music,” said Ann Cook, nurse supervisor for the special unit. “It’s just enjoyment for them. They don’t have to be able to sing the words, they can just hum or listen.
“We choose activities to set up residents to succeed,” she said. “Music is perfect. They can be passive and still enjoy it.”
Cook said the music could be heard throughout the special unit where 30 people live, and yet it was not intrusive. She said she did not want to give the residents a sensory overload. The goal was just to play music of their time and let them enjoy.
The Veterans Home had long provided music for the special unit but prior to 2001 could only afford one or two shows per month, Paar said.
Then Thelma Beaty got involved.
She visited her husband, Art, at the Veterans Home regularly when he entered in 1999 until he died in November 2003.
Beaty talked to aides and confirmed her thoughts that the residents enjoyed live music much more than the piped-in variety. She said it was also difficult for the residents of unit B to be moved to another wing for the music concerts “They can get confused and become uncomfortable,” Beaty said. “They can get very upset if they’re in the wrong environment.”
Beaty, with the blessing of Administrator Pat Young, spoke to relatives of those in the unit about raising money for live music for the B unit.
The first year about $400 was collected, then $1,000 in 2002 and nearly $1,200 last year.
Paar said now the Veterans Home brings music to its special residents six to seven times each month.
“This is a gift that really means something,” Cook said. That’s not a scientific finding, she said. “We know it because we see our residents smile.”
Annance took care of her husband, John, who had Alzheimer’s disease, for five years until she had to take him to the Veterans Home. She visited him often and kept coming after he died – just after Christmas 2002.
“I enjoy coming here. I enjoy the people,” Annance said. “They don’t have enough people to come in and dance with them.
“They need someone to come in and say hello, give them a hug and a kiss,” she said. “I feel good inside. I want to do it. I enjoy it.”
John Pinto of Lewiston comes up often to visit his wife, Annie, and doesn’t miss a concert.
John met and married Annie 54 years ago in Belfast, Northern Ireland, when he was in the Navy.
“There’s not many things she can respond to, but she’s very responsive to music,” John said. “Sometimes we’ll just be sitting here and then out of the clear blue she’ll remember the words and start singing.”
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