A local choir put on a winter concert on Sunday afternoon to help de-stigmatize dementia and improve the health of participants with AlzheimerB次元官网网址檚 or dementia and the people who care for them through song.
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Voices in Motion is a choir for adults with memory loss, their caregivers, friends, and students. The choir began in September 2017 as a research project undertaken by the nursing, psychology, sociology and music departments at the University of Victoria to study how participating in a choir can help those with dementia and the people who care for them.
Voices in Motion choir director Erica Phare-Bergh said leading the choir has been the most amazing gift. B次元官网网址淚 did not expect this to be such an incredible journey. IB次元官网网址檓 moved by the courage of people as they face this journey,B次元官网网址� Phare-Bergh said.
Phare-Bergh said the researchers at UVic have found that stigma has gone down, depression has gone down, cortisol levels have been going up in people because theyB次元官网网址檝e been singing, and caregiver stress has gone down. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not that it lessened their situation, but it helped them reframe what is happening and gives them an option to do something thatB次元官网网址檚 really meaningful,B次元官网网址� she said.
Phare-Bergh said she demands a lot of her choir. B次元官网网址淥ne of the most fun things to do is to see that there is actually a shift as a group in the technical aspects of singing too because that means that thereB次元官网网址檚 growth as well. ItB次元官网网址檚 not like somebody is always making the same mistake every time B次元官网网址� they donB次元官网网址檛.B次元官网网址�
| Wendy Casey (middle) travels to Saanich from Mill Bay with her mother every week to participate in the Voices in Motion choir. (Sophie Heizer/B次元官网网址 Staff) |
Choir member, and caregiver for her mother who has dementia, Wendy Casey said she has seen these benefits for her mother first-hand. She said her mom has no short-term memory because of the disease, but she has been making some new memories with the choir, something Casey said isnB次元官网网址檛 supposed to happen for people with dementia.
Casey said her mother has been able to recognize Phare-Bergh and remember the words to songs she learned in the choir even though she canB次元官网网址檛 remember CaseyB次元官网网址檚 cousin who she has known for years. B次元官网网址淚 would say that itB次元官网网址檚 the singing thatB次元官网网址檚 doing it because she doesnB次元官网网址檛 recognize other people,B次元官网网址� Casey said.
B次元官网网址淭he frontal lobe is whatB次元官网网址檚 normally affected in AlzheimerB次元官网网址檚 and thatB次元官网网址檚 the part that so much of our life and our memories draw on,B次元官网网址� said Phare-Bergh. B次元官网网址淏ut when you sing together as a choir what theyB次元官网网址檝e noticed in the research they did at UVic is that it draws on all the other parts of the brain and that kind of comes to the rescue of the frontal lobe.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 wish we were doing more testing because my mom is a kick-ass scrabble player,B次元官网网址� Casey said. B次元官网网址淪heB次元官网网址檚 slowly losing it, but IB次元官网网址檇 really like to have seen her scrabble game before and at the end of this.B次元官网网址�
Phare-Bergh said there will be more research conducted with the choir, starting in January 2020.
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