Worldwide, nearly 47 million people are living with dementia, and the numbers are expected to rise to 75 million by the year 2050 (WHO | Dementia, n.d.). The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, affects nearly 6 million Americans and is the sixth leading cause of death among those aged 65 or older (Alzheimer's Facts and Figures, n.d.) Across all forms of dementia, neuropsychiatric symptoms are the most distressing and the hardest to treat. The natural course of many dementias affect all areas of the brain with devastating effects that result in behavioral and cognitive decline. Agitation, anxiety, and irritability are hallmark symptoms that have commonly been treated with psychotropic and anxiolytic medications (Cerejeira, Lagarto,
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Several theories exist as to what constitutes personhood. The ability to experience the pleasure and pain of life, or sentience, is a central and fundamental aspect of personhood. Self-awareness, morality, the ability to reason, autonomy, and finding worth in your own existence are also facets of the theory of personhood. Personhood, at its fundamental level, is an individual with thoughts, feelings, ideas, intelligence, morality, and consciousness. For those with dementia, preserving personhood is of the utmost importance. To be treated with respect, dignity, and valued, one must be considered a person (Moody, 2003). “A person is someone who is worthy of recognition; who legitimately belongs to a community of responsible agents; who merits treatment with respect. The category of the person as it exists today is inextricably bound up with ideas such as those” (Kitwood, 1990). It is the caregivers who provide the community, who maintain the dignity and respect, provide the pleasure of life, and take away the pain associated with dementia. Melody, harmony, and rhythm through music awakens long-lost enjoyment, stimulates the most primal levels of being, and perhaps for a fleeting moment, can bring back the person lost to
Several theories exist as to what constitutes personhood. The ability to experience the pleasure and pain of life, or sentience, is a central and fundamental aspect of personhood. Self-awareness, morality, the ability to reason, autonomy, and finding worth in your own existence are also facets of the theory of personhood. Personhood, at its fundamental level, is an individual with thoughts, feelings, ideas, intelligence, morality, and consciousness. For those with dementia, preserving personhood is of the utmost importance. To be treated with respect, dignity, and valued, one must be considered a person (Moody, 2003). “A person is someone who is worthy of recognition; who legitimately belongs to a community of responsible agents; who merits treatment with respect. The category of the person as it exists today is inextricably bound up with ideas such as those” (Kitwood, 1990). It is the caregivers who provide the community, who maintain the dignity and respect, provide the pleasure of life, and take away the pain associated with dementia. Melody, harmony, and rhythm through music awakens long-lost enjoyment, stimulates the most primal levels of being, and perhaps for a fleeting moment, can bring back the person lost to