Music Therapy with Older Adults
Shari enjoys connecting with and learning from older adults - from them, about them, about their musical tastes, preferences, experiences and meaningful memories related to the music they share.
Shari has worked and/or currently works with older adults: living in aged care, dementia care; living with neurological conditions including stroke, Parkinson’s Disease and traumatic brain injury; living with mental health conditions including anxiety disorders, bi-polar (manic-depressive) disorder, depression, psychosis, schizophrenia, and dementia.
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Music can offer a purpose for your day, which for an older person can be highly meaningful, and even more so when it involves interactive music-making or shared singing and reminiscence with someone else.
For older adults who have experienced stroke, neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, Dementia, music therapy can involve singing to maintain vocal function as well as reminiscence. While listening to music has value, the experience of sharing music with another person, shared music-making and exploration of what sounds you can make can be so empowering. The reward inherent within music-making is highly motivating for repetitive training and movement patterns while playing instruments, which are specifically chosen and used to encourage, exercise and stimulate targeted functional movements. For older adults in palliative care and their significant others shared music can support, connect, express, prepare and affirm. 
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Goals might include the following:
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