Use of Music Therapy in Dementia

This article discusses the use of music therapy in treating dementia, specifically focusing on its effectiveness in addressing psychological issues such as anxiety, stress, and minor depression. It explores the definition of music therapy and its role in promoting well-being and improving memory. The article also provides information on the pathophysiology of dementia and the pharmacological interventions used to manage the disease.

Running head: ORAL PRESENTATION
ORAL PRESENTATION
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1Oral Presentation
PART A
ORAL PRESENTATION
Topic: Use of music therapy in Dementia
Recently, I got my placement in Concord hospital, mental health unit, and my PEP subject is the
use of music therapy in Dementia. Within a few days of my placement at the mental health unit, I
encountered an old patient named Mr John (for the sake of confidentiality, the original name is
suppressed). He was 65 years of old, male and a resident of Sydney Australia. His spouse was along
with the patient during admission and I had a discussion with his wife to get more details about the
patient. As per his wife, he was a normal person some seven years back when he retired from the job. He
developed mental illness slowly and his present condition compelled her to bring him to the hospital for
treatment. The spouse reported that his husband was suffering from the loss of memory very often. He
was also having the following symptoms like difficulty communicating or finding words, difficulty
reasoning or problem-solving, difficulty with planning, organizing and coordinating things. The
psychological changes observed in behaviour of the patient is depression, anxiety, inappropriate
behaviour etc. When he was admitted he was not talking to anybody, he was visibly angry for being
moved to the hospital.
The doctor who was attending the patient conducted a number of tests on neurological evaluation
like evaluation of memory, language, visual perception, attention, problem-solving, movement, senses,
balance and reflexes. He prescribed blood tests for vitamin B12 deficiency. He diagnosed the patient
suffering from Alzheimer’s disease a type of dementia.
Pathophysiology:
The cause of Dementia may be a sequence of several diseases and events. However, the
particular reason for this is in general, degradation of brain cells, whether biologically or externally.
Dementia can be caused due to the inherited effects, life style and the environmental factors.
Infection, like Creutzfeldt-Jakob, and blood vessels narrowing and damaging the brain, maybe
some biological reasons for diseases which cause dementia. Genetic factors, such as Huntington's and
possibly Alzheimer's diseases (Betterhelp.com, 2018), can also be responsible for developing these
diseases. Though these diseases have different roots, they all have one thing in common, they damage
the brain causing dementia which can be diagnosed through a change of mood, behaviour and cognitive
impairment symptoms. This happens due to the destruction of brain cells by these ailments
(Betterhelp.com, 2018).

2Oral Presentation
Alzheimer's disease can often be associated with elderly people and senility, the best-known perpetrators
of dementia. It is the leading cause of the disease among people aged 60 and over and affects at least 12
million people worldwide (Betterhelp.com, 2018).
The cause of Alzheimer’s diseases is not known fully but it is supposed that genetic and
environmental factors is supposed to activate it. The choice of lifestyle is also supposed to play a part in
the beginning. Brain plaques caused by protein beta-amyloid accumulation along with neurofibrillary
tangles are associated with all Alzheimer's cases (Allen and Dawbarn, 2011). Amyloid structures cause
adverse brain effects and cell death.
Pharmacology:
Dementia cannot be cured fully by any disease. However, some medicines can be applied based
on the symptoms of dementia by slowing down the development of short-term cognitive losses. These
medicines are often known as anti-dementia, are prescribable only by a doctor and depend on the
underlying kind of dementia for the choice of medicine. The disease of Alzheimer is often treated with a
brand of acetylcholine inhibitors, designed to increase the acetylcholine content of your brain. Doctors
also recommend non-pharmacological interventions with prescribed medicines like Cognitive
Stimulation Therapy (CST), Reminiscence Therapy, Validation Therapy, Reality Orientation, Physical
Exercise etc (Dementia.ie, 2014).
As stated above, there is no drug which can be used to treat the Alzheimer’s diseases. Hence in
order to treat such disease alternative approach can be used such as music therapy. Music therapy is the
utilization of music intercessions to enable patients to express themselves through sensory stimulation. It
very well may be utilized to treat a variety of disorders, both mental and physical in nature. Music
therapy mediations can be intended to promote an individual's well-being, control their stress levels, and
even improve their memory. The “American Music Therapy Association (AMTA)” characterizes music
therapy as an established treatment where music is utilized in a restorative relationship to address the
physical, emotional, subjective and social issues of people (Barnett and Shale, 2013). Music treatment
is effective to help individuals with a number of psychological issues, for example, nervousness, stress
and minor depression.

3Oral Presentation
References
Allen, S. and Dawbarn, D. (2011). Pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease. Oxford Medicine Online.
Barnett, J. and Shale, A. (2013). The integration of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) into
the practice of psychology: A vision for the future. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 1(S), pp.26-39.
Betterhelp.com. (2018). The Pathophysiology Of Dementia: What Causes It? | Betterhelp. [online]
Available at: https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/dementia/the-pathophysiology-of-dementia-what-
causes-it/ [Accessed 2 Jun. 2019].
Dementia.ie. (2014). Interventions | Dementia. [online] Available at:
http://dementia.ie/information/interventions [Accessed 2 Jun. 2019].