![\"Cheryl](\"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/IMG_5275.jpg\")
<\/a>(photo courtesy of JCFS).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cWe thought it would be a good fit,\u201d says Einat Paz-Keynan, Manager of Volunteer Services at JCFS. \u201cBetween our needs for the Music and Memory program, and their skills in Music Therapy, as well as their field placement requirements, it was a perfect match.\u201d<\/p>\n
The goal of the Music and Memory program is to help people with memory loss unlock memories not yet lost to illnesses like Dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s, and to reinvigorate participants, enabling them to converse and stay present.<\/p>\n
From January to April, CMU Music Therapy program students Deidra Borus and Michaela Olson, met with clients in their homes, bringing iPods pre-programmed with music specially selected for the client.<\/p>\n
Initially, they would play the music from the iPod, and listen to it with the clients. But as the semester progressed, Borus and Olson started to bring in the element of live music.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would find out what their favourite songs were, and I would learn it on guitar,\u201d says Borus. \u201cPlaying and singing provided a different perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
One client Borus met with showed little response at first. But on one particular day, Borus began playing a traditional Jewish hymn, and within seconds, she recalls, the elderly client started speaking the lyrics and was eventually singing along.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat reaction blew my mind. I\u2019ve never had a client of any age respond to a piece of music that quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDeidra and Michaela were able to take it a lot further because of their music therapy skills and training,\u201d says Lee-Anne Adams, one of two Music Therapy Faculty at CMU.<\/p>\n
CMU\u2019s Music Therapy program trains students in the skillful and systematic use of music and all of its facets\u2014emotional, mental, social, physical, cognitive, and spiritual\u2014to assist in promoting, maintaining, and restoring health. The program is the only one of its kind offered across the prairie provinces and is accredited by the Canadian Association for Music Therapy (CAMT).<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the beginning, we didn\u2019t know where this would lead,\u201d says Paz-Keynan. \u201cBut we\u2019re very happy with the outcomes of the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the future, Paz-Keynan says JCFS hopes to have more CMU Music Therapy students doing practicum placements with the Music and Memory program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really proud of the work our students have done this year,\u201d says Adams. \u201cThey did some very beautiful work. And I\u2019m really pleased to have JCFS acknowledge the success of our partnership this way.\u201d<\/p>\n