SENIORS
For the elderly, playing drums is an excellent supportive activity.
Here are some of the benefits:
Decreased anxiety and depressiveness
Improvement in joint mobility and posture
Improvement in language ability
Aid in motor skills
Increased vital energy
Immune defense enhancement
Fun and “being in the moment”
Make new social connections, or deepen them
Stress release
Facilitated Drum Circles are becoming popular for every age group, including the elderly. Playing drums can be done while sitting, so people with walking difficulties can spend uplifting and joyful moments creating music together, and at the same time get some good exercise.
And, for these people who cannot walk, a Drum Circle is an excellent way to improve overall health, help release stress and improve blood circulation.
Rhythm positively affects the body, and has healing properties. It provides a “place” where mind, body and spirit can rejuvenate and remember.
The Drum Circle works with
Community centers for the elderly
Days dedicated to the elderly
Nursing homes
Associations for retirees
The interactive event created with the Drum Circle allows seniors to create their own music. They are deeply affected as they feel the vibrations of the music. They laugh and smile, hands open and close, memories resurface, and often begin to sing and dance.
Playing drums is not only fun but improves circulation in the hands and body, relaxes stiffened joints, in the shoulders, arms and wrists, and stimulates the mind.
Numerous studies clearly indicate that participation in activities such as a percussion “ensemble” decreases the effect of dementia, and may prevent the onset of such disorders. In the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients and the elderly, the physical development of new neuronal pathways around plaques and tangles has been clinically observed, reflecting the learning of new abilities.
There are many benefits to doing group music, and it is widely accepted as an effective way to encourage useful life skills and expand confidence and self-esteem, by teachers, educators, music therapists and health workers.
The physical exercise of playing drums is extremely beneficial to the body, especially the upper body.
Each event also provides an opportunity for social interaction in elderly people who may tend toward isolation. By challenging participants to learn new ways of making music, we help them create new pathways for neuro-muscular functions. Participants report improvement in general motor coordination, walking, speaking, sleep and thought processes.
- One of the key benefits of playing drums, especially for the elderly, is the mental training that comes with it.
- Participants receive manual but also global sensory stimulation, and without needing a long learning curve: in fact, facilitation makes engagement generally very fast.
- All seniors are encouraged to play, and are involved within and not beyond their comfort level.
- Drum Circles are accessible to all participants, beyond their initial skill level.
Research conducted by the Institutional Study Review Board of the Meadville City Medical Center in the US concluded that recreational music brings more desirable effects than the use of antidepressants and mood-stabilizing substances.
What are you waiting for to organize an event or program for your seniors? Contact us now!
