My dad is 87 years old and living his life with dementia. I have spent almost 2 years now caring for him and trying to 'enrich' his life with activities at the various Senior Centers near our home (we joined 3 of them!). Well, all my best intentions to take him to exercise, lectures, painting, woodshop, bingo, and more as a way to enrich his social life, daily life, and brain stimulation! It because extremely frustrating for me to spend a lot of time researching, reserving, arranging schedules to get him to these activities, only to find he wanted to leave within 5 minutes, looked things over and asked to leave, or refused to leave home at all! My motivation was based on research and personal knowledge - that staying home alone, watching TV, and reading the paper (or never getting out of bed) equals a socially disconnected and depressing experience. After getting us both a bit frustrated with my efforts -- I finally was able to step back and think about what HE was feeling. This was not a generally 'social activity' kind of guy. He loved socializing, but he didn't join the bowling team, the choir, the bridge club, ...etc. He loved parties and music.....and always....cookies!! So now I find every music/party I can, and join him whenever I can --and he has a blast, talks to people, gets coffee and cookies, taps his feet and yells "yee-haw!" in appreciation. Now we are aligned and neither of us is frustrated, and I really enjoy music events too! Dad has never been happier since I found the 'Jukebox classics' music channel on TV --it plays all day (instead of the depressing/upsetting news). He is tapping his feet and singing along, all day long and is HAPPY! I attached two valuable articles that show how music touches our souls, no matter what might be blocking other brain activities (such as Dementia or Alzheimer's) . Keep the music going and bring joy to us all! Warmly, RoseAnne #roseannebridge #caregiver #music
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