Written by: Molli Smith, MT Intern.

During my internship thus far, I have gotten the opportunity to work with multiple groups of older adults with dementia. Because I have not had as much hands-on experience with this population during my undergrad clinical work as a music therapy student at Queens University of Charlotte, I wanted to explore research studies that have examined the benefits of music therapy for older adults to gain more insight. In my search, I found a study that was conducted in August of 2022 - just a mere 7 months ago. With this study, Leticia Prieto Álvarez, PhD, MT-BC, LMHC examined the effects of Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) on treatment acceptability, cognition, mood, and behavior of older adults with dementia in comparison to participation in an Enrichment Program (combination of mental and physical exercises) and a non-facilitated television program.

While facilitating the music therapy, about seven to nine different NMT techniques were used in each session. To highlight some of the techniques that were used to target sensorimotor skills, speech and language, and cognition, here are a list of a few examples: 

• Patterned Sensory Enhancement by playing marching rhythms or songs to encourage lower body movements. 
• Oral Motor and Respiratory Exercises by singing with elongated syllables like “Ay” and “Oy.” 
• Therapeutic Singing with familiar songs from the 30s-60s. 
• Auditory Perception Training by following therapists’ dynamic cues to play loud or softly. 
• Musical Executive Function Training by conducting interventions to practice decision-making or reasoning in a social setting. 

Participants were residents of an assisted living community that had been diagnosed with moderately severe to severe Alzeihmer’s Disease or related dementia. They were placed into three groups and attended each type of intervention four times a week. Results indicated that the average participants’ acceptance of treatment and completion of full treatment sessions were higher in NMT than compared to the enrichment and television programs. During implementation, several residents left their assigned intervention and chose to attend NMT instead (86% of the time) whereas no residents left NMT to attend a different intervention. Participation in NMT resulted in higher scores of positive mood, followed by the enrichment program, and then television. Researchers also found that NMT had a larger effect on cognitive functioning, receiving higher scores across five of the seven cognitive subdomains. 

I have seen numerous positive impacts for older adults with dementia from my own clinical work, but never had an opportunity to look into differences among other provided programs. Reading about the results of this study was very interesting. Not only did this research study provide me with further validation of why the work we do with this population is so beneficial, but it is a great resource in advocating for more implementation of music therapy programs in assisted living communities. 

To read the full article, visit this link.

How have you seen music therapy benefit older adults with dementia?

Written by: Molli Smith, Music Therapy Intern

I began my journey to become a music therapist with little knowledge of what exactly I was getting into. The minute I first read about music therapy, I just knew I wanted to be a part of it. Getting the opportunity to sit in on an actual music therapy session, however, really sealed the deal, and my passion for the field began to grow.

Music has always been my creative outlet. I was really shy as a child and never felt comfortable sharing my thoughts and feelings with other people. Music was my way to do so; It provided me with a sense of comfort and peace through the obstacles I faced. I knew I wanted to give that same experience to other people some day, to share the power music has to aid in our self-expression and ability to connect in other ways. 

What intrigues me the most about becoming a music therapist is the positive impact it can have on other people. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing someone light up whenever you begin to play a song they recognize, witnessing someone reach their goals or succeed in something new, and fostering connections through musical interaction. Knowing that your work has made a difference, however big or small, makes this field so inspiring. What is also intriguing about music therapy is that there is always more to learn. No risks of having a boring job here! There are plenty of opportunities to learn new songs or discover new genres, how music therapy may work with different diagnoses, new research in the field, different intervention techniques, and even expanding awareness of different cultural backgrounds. It’s nice to stick to routines that work for you, but I also enjoy switching things up and trying something new. Not only does it keep me from feeling stagnant, it’s a great way to keep evolving and improving my skills to be the best music therapist I can be.  

There are many layers to being a music therapist that are not always seen on surface level. I am so excited to continue uncovering those layers throughout my time as an intern here at Piedmont Music Therapy. I am reminded each day of why I chose to pursue this career and how much I enjoy the work I am doing. That’s a feeling I'd never thought I’d get to experience, so I am beyond grateful to have found my passion.  

Check out more personal stories about music therapy here.​

When will you see more than one music therapist? The staff of board certified music therapists travel in tandem for community events, to facilitate multiple music therapy appointments simultaneously (due to clients' needs) and for training purposes.

The onboarding process for staff includes observing peers through out their work week to ensure smooth delivery model and ensure in the event of planned time away from work or sickness coverage, a clinician is prepared to work with a client in their absence. 

If you have questions when you see more than one music therapist, just ask! You have a right to learn about the training and qualifications of health care providers. PMT does its best to communicate in advance for sub coverage, planning personal leaves or time off from work, and ensuring that the client's needs are the top priority.

We appreciate your support of creative & expressive arts therapy in Charlotte Metro!

Piedmont Music Therapy's private practice often receives inquiries and requests for programming in residential facilities within Mecklenburg and York Counties of the Carolinas. The following infographic is an educational way to learn the distinguishing factors with the need and purpose of music based events and services for older adults.
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As outlined with the above word map, music therapists often arrive with more specialized materials.

​The level of preparation and planning to design goal oriented experiences for older adults may be more undestandable with viewing the two photos below of a group room. They capture the many instruments, visual aides and materials that may be brought to a residential site in Charlotte Metro in order to support older adults creating and sharing music as actively as possible. 

Let us know if this educational flier and photos from prepared group spaces help to explain the specialized services that a board certified music therapist may be able to facilitate with older adults. Comment below with questions or feedback!

Written by Gabby Jones, MT-BC​

I recently had the opportunity to present “Music for Children with Special Needs” to 2 groups of local elementary school music teachers about how to work with students who have special needs in the music classroom.
     Music educators are almost guaranteed to have students with special needs in their classroom due to inclusion with regular classroom related arts classes (e.g. music, art, PE, etc.)  Additionally, sometimes music educators also work within special services classrooms where all students have been identified as having special needs.  This can be challenging in itself, but even more so when music educators have not had any or very limited training in working with such students.  This is where a music therapist can help!  Music therapists are trained in adapting and creating musical experiences to persons of all ages and abilities; this ability to “adapt” is the key to working with ALL students.
      As defined in my presentation, adaptations do not change the learning objective, but change the learning outcome.  There are multiple ways of adapting music lessons to meet the needs of a variety of students.  Some examples are as follows:

1. Input:  vary the ways information is presented to students
2. Output: vary the ways students can demonstrate their understanding of the knowledge
3. Difficulty: adapt the skill level, problem type or rules on how the student may approach the lesson
4. Level of Assistance:  the amount of assistance give to the student to achieve success

This is a brief listing of possible adaptations that can be made in your classroom to help include everyone. If you are new to the profession and are looking for general resources, here are some links to books/articles that are a good place to start. 

• Music in Special Education:  Mary Adamek & Alice Ann Darrow 3rd Edition (2018) 
• ​Educational Benefits of Music in an Inclusive Classroom 
• ​Teaching Lessons to Children with Special Needs 

Finally, the links below are classroom materials that I use in music therapy and can be easily implemented into the music classroom:

• Color Coding 
• Movement Props    
• Adapted Instruments 
• Autism/Visual Aids
• ​Color Coded Melodies divided by genres, arranged by PMT Staff

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If you have any questions, please comment below!

Here is an updated resource flier based upon feedback from client families and staff's searches online:

The Self-Care Kits that were distributed in November 2021 included post cards that contain an invalid QR Code. Here is the resource list that was intended to be shared:
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