Musical recollections
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on May 16, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Elouise Robinson sings along to the popular church hymn "Oh How I Love Jesus" as it plays on her donated MP3 player during Group Respite at the Peggy M. Seegars Senior Center. As the former choir member sings she is slowly joined by volunteers, caregivers and even other members of the group.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Angela Strickland helps straighten Rose Sherman's headphones as she listens to music on her MP3 player during Group Respite at the Peggy M. Seegars Senior Center Thursday.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Mary Fowlkes smiles as she listens and sings along to music on one of the donated MP3 players during Group Respite at the Peggy M. Seegars Senior Center. Without the music Fowlkes is quiet and introverted, but with the music she is outgoing. After singing a few lines of "All Shook Up" by Elvis Presley, she said, "I gave them what they needed," and the room filled with laughter.
On a Thursday afternoon at the Peggy Seegars Senior Center, the respite room was filled with song.
Each week, the members of the group respite program gather to take part in the Music and Memory, a nationwide project which uses music to stimulate memory in Alzheimer's and dementia patients.
The science behind the program is based on how some neurological disorders function. Studies have shown that the medial prefrontal cortex region of the brain -- the area responsible for music -- is one of the last to be damaged during the course of Alzheimer's or dementia.
Rob Modica, who brought Music and Memory to the center, first learned about it through a chance occurrence while driving with his wife, Tina. Tina suffers from dementia, and cannot communicate or remember much of anything.
"I usually listen to country music when I drive," Modica said. "I was flipping through the stations, and I found an oldies station with an old song. And the next thing I know my wife starts singing to the song. And she is singing every word."
Modica hadn't heard the song in nearly 15 years. Tina, who struggles to remember things that happened just a minute before, was not missing a beat.
As it turns out, she wasn't the only one. A friend soon introduced Modica to Music and Memory, and he set out to see if he could bring it to Goldsboro. Tina spends time each week at the senior center, so Modica decided to approach the center about bringing the program there. He said that Jodie Glosson, who ran the group respite at the time, was enthusiastic from the start.
"She said 'That's great, I want to do it.' So I said, 'OK, let me see if I can get some iPods or some headsets donated. And if not, I'll buy them.'"
Modica then set about trying to gather up as many donations as possible. He talked to family members, spoke on the radio and eventually received a total of seven donated iPods. The group respite at the senior center has a maximum capacity of 10 participants, so Modica purchased the last three iPods himself.
The last step was to get the music. For the program to work, the music that each patient listens to must be specifically tailored to their individual experiences. Giving an 80-year-old a Taylor Swift album isn't particularly likely to drum up any memories, so the music must be something that the individual grew up with. Some patients were able to provide that information themselves, while others had family members who knew what kind of music they liked in their youth.
For the ones without that information, Modica had to get a bit creative. He mapped out the ages of the participants in order to determine what year it was when they were 16, 17, 18 and so on, and then did research to find what music was popular during that time. Even if it was not the person's favorite, just being familiar and recognizable was enough to bring back memories.
"Since we've started the program here, the clients are incredible with it," she said. "They love it. There are a couple of ladies who actually get horrified when you go to take it. You'll hear them walking out the front door talking about how great it was."
Giving the patients their music is like turning on the lights in a dark room. People who are otherwise withdrawn and silent suddenly come alive, singing and swaying back and forth to the music they loved in their youth.
Mary Fowlkes' voice was barely audible. She spoke in short sentences, often trailing off into a barely-perceptible mumble by the end. When asked how the music made her feel, she replied that it simply felt "real good."
Just a few minutes later, with her headphones on, Fowlkes was a different woman. She sang in a loud, high register, dancing in her seat to the tune of "All Shook Up." Gone was the meek, quiet woman from earlier; this Mary had attitude. When the women sitting near her joined in, she exclaimed "I gave 'em' what they needed."
The Seegars Center is one of 84 facilities in North Carolina that use the program; a fairly small group compared to the approximately 4,700 total senior facilities in the state. It is one of just two in Wayne County.
Many facilities have told Modica that they like the idea of the Music and Memory program, but do not have the funding to implement it. He said that the real value in the program comes with how simple it is to apply at home.
"The centers don't always have to have the money, the caregivers can do it. You're talking about a $30 to $35 iPod and a $5 headset. Just $40, that's it. And the benefits are enormous."
Being in the room when the patients "wake up" is a moving experience. Elouise Robinson sat with her head down, eyes closed, not reacting much to what was going on around her. She answered questions in simple sentences and had trouble with the details of her answers.
When her headphones went on, she entered a different world. Robinson's voice cut through the chatter in the room as she began to sing "Oh, how I love Jesus." Her song captured the attention of the rest of the room and soon enough she was joined by the other patients and volunteers. As unlikely as it seemed, it didn't appear she even noticed the effect she was having on those around her. In the moment, all that mattered was the music.