Art + Medicine

Blessed assurance Music is so healing. Jesus is mine It feeds my heart, it feeds my mind. Oh what a foretaste It makes me happy. It makes me joyful. Music has the ability to take us through the ages. It sort of goes past time and space, and when you hear music, it speaks to experiences, emotions. It speaks to memories. I'm born of the spirit And I'm washed in his blood Music, it lifts myself my soul. This is my story This is my song The Amazing Grace Chorus is amazing. It is a chorus of elders in what we call a dementia-friendly space. So, we are a full bouquet of folks, some who have loved or lost people who've had Alzheimer's and dementia, some who are currently living with it now, some who just wanna be informed and wanting to age in a healthy way. Blood Yes, praise the Lord. We sing gospel music and it's really great because it reflects culture, African American culture, and African American music. Hallelujah, I'm gonna give you 10 seconds to praise him, hallelujah. Within gospel music, you have ways of saying things, ways of singing things. There's lots of nuance and culture and context within it, and we don't want that to melt away. Gospel music feeds my soul, and it makes me feel so much better, because you know, when you have like maybe early onsets of dementia, it can take you down into depression, but with the gospel music, it brings you up. The goal really too, I think of the Amazing Grace Chorus, is one, to help with some of the isolation that's experienced by elders. There are times when in community, we begin to move them towards the margins. And so, this serves as a beautiful way to center them and reduce isolation that they experience at this age. Also, we oftentimes have a lot of nicknames for the impact of Alzheimer's, like a mother is getting forgetful, or, you know, that's just how uncle is, right? But through the Amazing Grace Chorus, we're hoping they can know, what are resources we can go to when mother is getting forgetful. Sometimes I feel that that I'm forgetting things, and this has helped me because there's exercises that we do to help you remember. We center in on a time period, we play songs, and we have the group think about what were things that they remember happening? It connects to some deep recess in our brain, and it brings out those memories that are latent in there, and part of who we are that you don't even realize that you still know. Please help me welcome Miss Viola Seals and the Amazing Grace Chorus once again. What's magical about the Amazing Grace Chorus, is the people. an on time God, yes He is Miss Viola Seals is our long-standing gift, and it's not a party of one when she sings. Job said, He may not come when you want him Oh but he'll be there There right on time You'll often hear her ask for another witness. She's gonna make sure to pull in everybody. And let me see if I can get some more witnesses here. You can ask But some of those members of the Chorus who are experiencing memory loss, it's amazing to see them and hear them sing. So, you will never know those persons who have their memory, those persons who are suffering from memory loss. You won't know the difference because it brings something out, when they are exposed to music. Out of no where God step in and cut a highway just like that The joy of being seen, heard, valued, the joy of laughing, of singing is still as relevant in the twilight years as it is when we're the youngest of singers and artists too. When I think about music and dementia in the community, I think, folks are learning about how to keep moving. It has been a heavy period of time over the course of the past few years. And I think, they've learned resilience from one another. I think that they've learned joy again. They have such great wisdom that they've been generous with and have shared with me. Sometimes, I think I'm leading, but really they're pushing me along too, right? Being a part of the Chorus, it gives me joy, it gives me hope. You know, I don't take anything for granted. I could be in that situation next week, but I am appreciating and learning from so many of the members. It gives me hope. Oh yes He's an on-time God Oh yeah It feels so good to be singing with the choir. It kind of helps me stay focused and gives me strength. (congregation applauding) All right, all right, all right. (bright upbeat music)