Health
of Seniors
(continued from page 1)
The study followed various health measures in 130 people during 1998. The expmental group consisted of 61 retirees taking group keyboard lessons in Florida over a period of two 10-week sessions. The health measures were administered before the sessions and after each lesson. The control group included 69 retirees in Michigan who did not receive group keyboard lessons, with the health measures administered at the same times as the experimental group in Florida. The Michigan control group was equivalent to the Florida group with respect to age, gender, and ethnicity. Forty-five men and 85 women participated — slightly more than half were married. These findings support an existing body of international research that has already documented music therapy’s value in pain reduction, coping with stress, and in stimulating the immune system.
The Music Making and Wellness Project is a multi-year study that grew out of a decade of research conducted at the University of Miami on the effects of music therapy on health and wellness, including a federally funded study demonstrating how active music making positively affected the biology and behavior of Alzheimer’s patients. Dr. Tims, who was also the principal investigator for the Alzheimer’s research, explains his recent findings: “We feel strongly that abundant health benefits can be achieved by older people learning to play music in a supportive, socially enjoyable setting.”
In three separate areas, important quality of life changes were discovered from pre- to post-test in the keyboard group — anxiety, depression, and loneliness decreased among the experimental group with no change occurring in the control group, even accounting for differences in life events and social support. Decreased anxiety is related to improvement in cognitive performance, as well as enhancing learning, decision-making, and overall feelings of well-being. Depression is a major problem among the elderly and these results further confirm and give credence to the long held belief that music can indeed improve one’s mental state.
In June 1999, a second round of positive results from the Music Making and Wellness Project’s research showed there was also an increase in human growth hormone (hGH) among the experimental group. Human growth hormone positively affects such aging phenomena as energy levels, wrinkling, osteoporosis, sexual function, muscle mass, as well as aches and pains.
The positive effects of keyboard training are not confined to the elderly. There has been a great deal of recent research showing a causal link between keyboard training and higher brain functions in children. University of California, Irvine physics professor emeritus Dr. Gordon Shaw demonstrated that taking piano lessons resulted in measurable increases in specific math skills among elementary school students.
Clearly, music making is of vital importance to the health and well-being
of people of all ages. Through the work of dedicated scientists like Drs.
Tims and Shaw, science is proving what has long been believed since ancient
times, that music is essential to quality of one’s life.
Key
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