Community
Carra Purvis , from left , Kayla Fuentes and Jewel Lynne Shirley bring music therapy to local residents through the Meridian Symphony Association ’ s Healing Harmonies program . Photo by Thomas Howard .
Healing Harmonies
MSA brings music therapy to patients
Story by Glenda Sanders
Patients use music therapy to work on fine motor skills . Photo courtesy of Meridian Symphony Association .
Some in the group were shaking maracas , some were tapping tambourines and others were beating drums . They may not have been a real band , but all were finding a way to use music as therapy .
Made up largely of seniors who are living with dementia or Alzheimer ’ s disease or who are recovering from a stroke , the men and women , as well as their caregivers , seemed to enjoy the musical exercises , part of the Meridian Symphony Association ’ s Healing Harmonies program , which aims to bring music therapy to local residents .
“ Studies have shown how extremely effective music therapy is especially with those who have been affected by Alzheimer ’ s and dementia because the area of the brain that music accesses is the one area of the brain that Alzheimer ’ s doesn ’ t touch ,” said MSA Executive Director Carra Purvis . “ It is absolutely remarkable … You can ask a dementia patient a question , and they can ’ t answer it because they don ’ t remember . But if you play a piece of music that has some correlation to that question and they listen , then you ask that question again , and suddenly they answer it with no problem .” Last summer , MSA partnered with Anderson Regional Medical Center to kick off Healing Harmonies with a small group of neurology patients . As word of the program spread , a second class made up of a group of community referrals began meeting at the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience , then a third class at a local care home was added , Purvis said . “ We knew there was a huge gap , a huge need for
26 • MERIDIAN LIFE