Use of Music Therapy in Dementia: A Case Study

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 following psychological changes in behaviour was reported like 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.
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).
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).
It is not fully understood how Alzheimer's disease is caused, but over the years research has
given us some clues of its origins. A mix of genetic and environmental factors is supposed to
activate it. The choice of lifestyle is also supposed to play a part in the beginning.