Music and Dance Offer New Hope in Dementia Care

While many possible healthy remedies are offered to reduce the effects of dementia—from nutrition and medicines to mental games and physical activities like yoga and walking—there is one in an art that has been recorded long in history.

Philosophers from Plato to playwrights like Shakespeare and most often modern musicians all have stated about the power of music to heal.  Most recently, medical science has provided proof that indeed music does affect the cells of the brain in a healthful way.

George Washington University and Washington Performing Arts have launched The NeuroArts Collective to unite public health and the performing arts to bridge science with creativity in providing cognitive health and compassionate care.

Jenny Bilfield President and CEO of Washington Performing Arts and Sydnae Law, director of applied practice of GW’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, have collaborated to bring public health students into art based communities to “harness music, dance and creativity as catalysts for wellness.”

A musical orchestra has many members.  This initiative, which focuses on musical arts and dementia conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons, is led by a collaboration that includes WPA’s Director of Arts Education & Partnerships Amber Pannocchia, Community and Global Programs Manger Anna Katz and the faculty and staff at the retired and assisted living community at Ingleside at Rock Creek.

Pannocchia has noted that the program is twofold in not only educating future caregivers and medical professionals or the public, but also in exploring programs for patrons who are no longer able to attend concerts or classes, would benefit by WPA’s goal to move one-time performances directly to seniors.

Two GWU candidates for a Master of Public Health will be working on this project. Ciel Vidale’s practicum focuses on the role of dance and movement in improving motor function and emotional well-being among residents with Parkinson’s disease. Neneh Sheriff’s project is centered on the use of music to support cognitive function in the Memory Support Assisted Living (MSAL) group.

Public health outside of traditional clinical settings offers hope for living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, which affect more than memory.  Seriff has pointed out that “They impact identity, emotional well-being and a person’s sense of connection to others.”

She continued, saying “through music and based on research, there is an improvement in residents’ access to moments of joy, familiarity and presence that are often difficult to reach through standard health interventions alone.”

How does this work that music activity preserved parts of the brain, even as other cognitive functions decline?

Seriff observed in sessions, that “residents who were initially quiet begin humming, tapping along, or softly singing as familiar melodies played and these small responses carried deep meaning.”

Ciel Vidale describes one session of a focus group demonstration with WPA teaching artist Lucy Brown McCauley in which one could physically see that shift happening.

“Participants who initially hesitated became more animated, more confident and visibly happier as the movement progressed,” she said. “Their posture changed, their faces lit up and they were eager for the next sequence—it was remarkable to witness.”

Further she noted that “Parkinson’s disease affects far more than motor function, it impacts confidence, identity, and social connection.”

Through movement and dance, she witnessed residents reclaim a sense of agency and joy in ways that traditional health interventions often struggle to reach.

Beyond the movement of the dance, Vidale said, “people stepped out of their shells.

The room soon transformed into a space of fellowship and community. There were participants laughing, encouraging one another and they were fully present.

“Parkinson’s disease can be profoundly isolating, so seeing people smile, laugh, and genuinely enjoy themselves underscored what this work is really about,” she added.

The arts and medicine are both needed for enjoying life.  But the arts are not just a luxury, Bilfield points out, but a vital component of public health.

Her message, and the efforts together of artists and medical professionals, are shaping a future through combining creativity, science and empathy to be shared by all of us

Learn more about the collaboration in this video here.