Photo Gallery Index; Music for Seniors

"Sometimes what you seems to help these patients more than anything we can do."

David H. Berman, M.D; President-Marin Medical Group, Inc.  

"Joy Perrin knows how to connect with seniors...in a deeply profound and touching 
way truly unique for an entertainer in this field.  She is truly a blessing to the recovering 
short term Rehab folks and the long term depressed,  frail, and lonely seniors."Activities Director  L. Gross, A Marin County Care Center, 2004

"Joy played Polynesian music, and this woman had tears come down her face, and she totally 
related and came out of herself.  I have seen some who seem not to respond to anything come alive 
when they hear her play." 

Connie Hirschmugl, Activities Director Smith Ranch Care Center, San Rafael, CA
 

"You know just what we NEED!" Betty Lerner (resident of a San Francisco Assisted Living Building.

Joy Perrin has provided Shows for Nursing Homes and  Therapeutic Musical Room Visits™
 for HUNDREDS hospitals and care centers since 1995.



Room  visits  include documentation of patient responses (of lack thereof), and provide a record of the patient recieving 

'meaningful stimulation', for the recreation therapist or social worker's records.

Joy has worked with hundreds of patients in many, many hospitals from NYC area to San Francisco, Berkeley, Danville, 

Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda, South Bay . She sings in eight languages and can connect multi-culturally.

Band-style concerts are also available for assemblies of patients.

Video of a Care Center Performance (it straightens out, just keep watching. 
It's worth it, I promise. Click Here.



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ACTIVITY DIRECTORS, Did you know that Therapeutic music provides opportunities for:

• Anxiety and stress reduction • Awareness of self and environment • Emotional Intimacy • Memory recall • Mood and emotional elevation • Nonpharmacologic pain management • •Sense of control • Social interaction • Stimulation • Structure • Verbal fluency

Additional details:

Memory recall which contributes to reminiscence and satisfaction with life
Positive changes in mood and emotional states
Sense of control over life through successful experiences
Awareness of self and environment which accompanies increased attention to music
Anxiety and stress reduction for older adult and caregiver
Nonpharmacological management of pain and discomfort
Stimulation which provokes interest even when no other approach is effective
Structure which promotes rhythmic and continuous movement or vocal fluency as an adjunct to physical rehabilitation
Emotional intimacy when spouses and families share creative music experiences
Social interaction with caregivers and families

Research Highlights:
Therapeutic music reduces depression among older adults.
Music experiences can be structured to enhance social/emotional skills, to assist in recall and language skills and to decrease problem behaviors.
Music tasks can be used to assess cognitive ability in people with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Music is effective in decreasing the frequency of agitated and aggressive behaviors for individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias.
Individuals in the late stages of dementia respond to and interact with music.

"Music therapy has been shown to be an invaluable tool with many rehabilitation patients. There is no question that the relationship
of music and medicine will blossom because of the advent of previously unavailable techniques that can now show the effects of music." (Mathew Lee, Rusk Institute, New York)

"I regard music therapy as a tool of great power in many neurological disorders -- Parkinson's and Alzheimer's -- because of its unique capacity to organize or reorganize cerebral function when it has been damaged." (Oliver Sacks, M.D.)