Oral Presentation: Music Therapy and Dementia in Healthcare, CNA254

This report details an oral presentation on the application of music therapy in treating dementia, focusing on a case study of a 65-year-old male patient diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The report outlines the patient's symptoms, including memory loss, communication difficulties, and psychological changes, and discusses the diagnostic process and pathophysiology of the disease, including the role of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. It also covers pharmacological interventions and the use of music therapy as a non-pharmacological approach to manage symptoms and improve patient well-being. The report references the American Music Therapy Association's definition of music therapy and highlights its effectiveness in addressing various psychological issues associated with dementia.

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.

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 and disease-modifying drugs for Alzheimer's disease and
associated dementia do not exist. Rather, 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).
Doctors also recommend alternative therapies like music therapy which is very effective in
giving relief to patients suffering from Dementia.
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.
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].