By definition, music therapy is the use of music for the purpose of having positive change, like soothing anxiety by creating a playlist that will calm someone down, or using rhythm to encourage people with mobility issues to grow more comfortable and confident with whichever movements they may struggle with.
In the context of our upcoming jazz performance, it could serve the purpose of soothing unpleasant emotions, evoking positive memories or simply keeping the care home residents happy and entertained for a while.
I found a clinical example of how music therapy does help people in real-life situations, specifically a case that regards care home residents who live with dementia that severely impairs their memory and ability to communicate verbally. I read through this page and found that music therapy helped these people in several ways, even if their sessions only took place every two weeks.
The couple that share this music therapy session benefit physically, since as their dementia progresses, their consciousness of the amount of movement is reduced. In music therapy, they are more likely to react to rhythm and move along or even just tap along to a song, meaning they are being active in minimal ways. The sensory stimulation that comes with interacting and actively listening to music will release dopamine to the brain, meaning their emotional wellbeing will benefit from it too.
By playing songs that both are familiar with, they re-form a connection from a song to a memory for a short while. Using this, it’s shown to benefit their relationship between each other as they are able to connect songs to either memories or emotions. In some cases, emotions can be stronger than memory and music will likely have more of an emotional influence above anything.
Lastly, the two of them found that they could be more social with other residents of the care home through these sessions, as the care home hosted sessions regularly with different people.
sites referenced:
https://www.musictherapyworks.co.uk/case-studies1