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For long-term residents at care homes, suffering from dementia or having had strokes, many come alive and resort to their former selves when they hear music from their childhood to teens played for them.
“If you look at the brain scan, the only area that’s not affected is the musical memory from zero to 20, so through music I can capture that 16-year-old and they can be whole for a second,” said Bethany Parsons, one of two music therapists at Glacier View Lodge in Courtenay.
“All those domains of a human being, they are impacted through music,” adds Julia Tabernero, music therapist at Glacier View Lodge.
Both Parsons and Tabernero attended Capilano University in North Vancouver. Tabernero did her first two years of student training at Glacier View Lodge and connected with residents while putting her new skills to work.
Parsons got her start with running private practice music therapy in Whistler, for children in ministry care – there were no long-term care facilities in Whistler, and when she relocated to the Comox Valley she was able to turn to Glacier View Lodge to continue her practice.
Despite initial meetings with residents sometimes being challenging, music soon connects both the music therapist and the resident, and a new relationship is formed.
“I had a gentleman who just came to a classical group and I was a bit intimidated and scared of him because he was so grumpy and angry. I was like ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do here,’ but he ended up being one of my favourite clients because of one song that we just really connected through,” said Tabernero. “I think that I’m witnessing music as the vehicle for connection. It’s kind of an unusual, beneficial experience.”
Parsons came to music therapy due to a love of music. She wanted a career in music, but she did not want to be a performer. It was her mother who suggested she go into music therapy.
“My mom had suggested this job to me because she was working as a teacher’s assistant in a school and she had had a wonderful music therapist from Victoria come in. She was like ‘You should do that job’,” shared Parsons.
For Tabernero, she also wanted a music career that didn’t involve performing.
“I grew up in a musical household, my mom’s a piano teacher, so I grew up doing instruments. I never loved performing, I did it, but I didn’t love it, so trying to find another occupation in music where you’re not performing, and also not necessarily great at teaching,” shared Tabernero. “I just remember from a young age putting on music for my dad when I knew he was having a rough day. I just experienced the kind of music venues as a tool for thriving and wellness and connection. These are the things that lead me to music therapy.”
While Tabernero focuses more on one-to-one therapy, seeing about six to eight residents a day, Parsons does more with groups in her seven-hour day.
“I love doing groups. A lot of my stuff is for a bit of a bigger crowd and then I’ll do maybe four one-to-ones a day. I do two big groups on the special care unit. Sometimes your one-to-ones last 10 minutes, sometimes they last 45 minutes,” stated Parsons of her scheduling. “There’s specific things where maybe their family is there. Maybe they’re palliative, maybe it’s a really intense time. There’s no way I’m leaving. Maybe they have some sort of emotional shift that happens and you’re not just going to say ‘okay, time’s up’.”
Music can be the only time that a resident reverts to their former self and lucidity.
“When you have dementia, your whole brain is affected and the person isn’t whole, they’re not themselves,” says Parsons. “Music therapy accesses eight domains like spiritual, cognitive, emotional, expressive, communicative and different physical. It depends on your goal.”
Music therapy doesn’t just work with unlocking the brains of dementia patients, it is also beneficial to other residents of Glacier View Lodge.
“Even with strokes, you can’t necessarily find the words but the lyrics come from a different area, you can have someone who can’t form a complete sentence but they can sing. It may feel so good to finally know something. Confidence can happen,” says Parsons.
“We’re singing this and it’s the first time all day that they know what’s going on and they just chill out and it lowers the need for antipsychotic medication, and that’s great for everyone to not need more medication,” explains Parsons. “[Music] changes mood. And then it also holds that feeling for a little bit longer, a lot of people with dementia only have the present.”
One of the keys to music therapy working is to hone in on what will work for each individual resident. Sometimes they are able to tell Parsons and Tabernero what they want to explore musically, other times it is making educated guesses based on their ages, while concentrating on the zero to 20 age range.
“We go to the time frame where music from say their teenage years, so you do the math a little bit and decide, ‘are we going 60’s, 50’s?’ That’s kind of my ball park, and then sometimes you’ll get people totally out of left field like Rolling Stones. It’s pretty amazing, the diversity and tastes. You can sometimes come across gypsy jazz. I’ve come across some really interesting genres that even I haven’t really learned about,” shared Tabernero.
One client of Tabernero’s, Chris, is an example of how music can break through barriers and bring alive skills and talent once thought lost. Chris used to be in many bands, playing bass guitar but due to the loss of use of his right arm, it was thought he could no longer play.
“We’ve shifted gears since he does not have use of his right arm. He’s starting to learn bass guitar with one hand. There is a technique where you are just pressing really hard with your fingers and it actually creates sound. So you are not necessarily needing to use your right hand. We actually jam some blues,” shared Tabernero.
The music therapy program at Glacier View Lodge has been in existence since the 1980s but Parsons and Tabernero have spearheaded the program, both working part-time, off and on, for the last several years. Both took breaks to start their own families and have now come together to make the program as accessible as possible for all residents. Be it group sessions or one-on-ones, there is something for every client of the lodge.
Raynee Novak
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