Gifts at Work - Music as a Form of Therapy

“I thought you were in your 70s,” marvels Dorothy Burritt, the director for the Eastham Council on Aging. “I could be 70,” Max responds, not missing a beat. As to Max’s secret for maintaining a youthful appearance and outlook on life, he doesn’t reveal it. Perhaps for Max, it may be the arts — specifically, singing — that is the answer.

“Music is one of the great things that keeps us going,” he acknowledges.

Max, who lives in Brewster, is one of nearly 20 local seniors who sing with fourth and fifth graders at the Eastham Elementary School, twice a month, from September through June at the Council on Aging’s Gathering Place Day Center. Dubbed the ReMemorable Multigenerational Chorus of Cape Cod, the program represents a collaboration between the Alzheimer’s Family Support Center of Cape Cod, the Eastham Council on Aging, and the Eastham Public Schools.

This fall, the chorus will enter its fourth year, and according to Melanie Braverman, co-founder and cultural director of the Alzheimer’s Family Support Center, it may be the only one of its kind in the entire country. “We haven’t heard of any others like this,” she says. “There are a lot of choruses for people with Alzheimer’s, but nothing for those with dementia that includes kids.”

For the students, the activity not only educates them about Alzheimer’s, but gives them the opportunity to interact with those who may be suffering from the condition. “It really helps the children not to be so afraid of the disease,” Braverman says.

Eileen Poitras, the Eastham Elementary School music teacher, says for several students those fears have been replaced with something more powerful — a desire to give back. “It’s been such a wonderful experience,” she says. “Some of the kids have started to volunteer, going over there and helping out with the seniors… They’ve started some friendships with them as well as singing songs. It’s been kind of neat to see.”

For the adults, the chorus has shown that cognitive therapy is beneficial for those who may be experiencing memory loss. “This

is helping us demonstrate to the world, in a way, that people with cognitive diseases can certainly learn new things,” Braverman says.

As far as the singing, Poitrays says, it elicits joy from those young and old.

Brianna LePage, the program manager for the day center, serves as the choral director. Joining her at the sessions is her mother, Brenda Silva, who accompanies the chorus on the piano.

Like the singers, the songs cross generations and include everything from Doris Day’s “Que Sera, Sera” to Katy Perry’s “Fight Song.” As they belt out the lyrics to these songs together, it’s not uncommon to see smiles come across the faces of those in the chorus.

A grant from the AFCC helped fund this year’s program, something that Braverman says is crucial to showing the benefits the arts have for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. “So many people think of the arts as dispensable and that’s why they are often first on the chopping block,” she says. “But we know through this [chorus] how vitally important they are to the life of a community.”