Goals and Benefits

For the resident

1. Create feeling of community and belonging.
2. Increase social interaction and communication.
3. Improve emotional expression.
4. Increase sense of organization in time.
5. Reduce agitation and anxiety.
6. Increase Sensory stimulation.
7. Improve physical exercise.
8. Improve gross and fine motor skills.
9. Improve cognitive function including attention, short term memory, and ability to follow cues.
10. Improve mood.

For the staff

1. Awareness of residents' retained abilities to participate in large group.
2. Improve working environment and increased ease of care-giving.
3. Share pleasurable experiences in an atmosphere of mutually successful participation.
4. Strengthen of relationships between staff and of staff-residents.
5. Enhance person-centered care.

Benefits of the Program

1. Beneficial to all levels of functioning, from early to late-stage dementia.
2. When a resident is unable to play the instruments, participation is still possible through body movement, breath, and eye contact.
3. Groups of similar functioning levels and groups with mixed levels of functioning achieve positive results.
4. Higher functioning residents will often engage the lower functioning residents.
5. Residents have the oppurtunity to express themselves and commune with others.
6. Improve movement and circulation.
7. Increase communication.
8. Improve attention and memory.
9. Enhance mood and motivation
10. Enhance quality of life.