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Share the Spirit: Singalongs and iPod playlists, music has calming effect on nursing-home residents

San Jose Mercury News - 12/15/2018

Dec. 14--MARTINEZ -- Preston Cooper, 85, really perked up when he heard "America the Beautiful."

Cooper, a resident of Legacy for the past eight years, was sporting an orange Giants cap. But his favorite music? The blues.

"My uncle loved the blues," the Texas native and retired laborer said. "I grew up on the blues." So a few years ago when the nursing home began to use iPods as a way to engage its residents, someone made him a blues playlist that includes songs by Lightnin' Hopkins, Robert Cray and B.B. King.

The iPods were made possible as part of the California Association of Health Facilities' Music & Memory Project, a program that brought personalized music to nursing-home residents. At Legacy, the program is facilitated by LITA (Love is the Answer) of Contra Costa, which runs a multifaceted effort to help improve the quality of life of the elderly and disabled who live in nursing homes.

LITA Director Victoria Ryan also happens to be a former professional musician, who has performed and toured with Herbie Hancock, Cat Stevens and James Taylor. She led the singalong that had Cooper and a couple dozen other Legacy residents mouthing the words, bobbing their heads or belting out the lyrics -- although some of them were nodding off a little, too.

LITA has received funding this year from Share the Spirit, an annual holiday campaign that serves needy residents in the East Bay. Donations support programs of more than 50 nonprofit agencies in Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

The funding will, among other things, help keep the iPod program going at places such as Legacy, especially now that state funding has ended after its three-year allotment. The program has been shown to do wonders for some residents, and LITA has distributed 181 iPods and iPads to several facilities in the county since 2013, when it first rolled out the program that it has dubbed the iPod Compassion Project.

"It goes deeper than just the joy of hearing one's lifetime favorite music," Ryan said. A recent study of almost 300 nursing homes by the CAHF and UC Davis found that the music program helped reduce use of medication, such as antipsychotics and antidepressants, among residents.

Swazi Prasad, an aide at Legacy, has found music can be helpful for Paul Elyser, a resident of the facility for three years. He's 75, and can be prone to yelling out. During a recent interview, Elyser would say only that he wears headphones when he listens to music, and that his favorite music is the blues.

"The music helps calm him down," Prasad said.

Rebecca Dargatz, the nursing home's activity director, said Elyser becomes excited when listening to Haitian music and salsa.

And she added that Legacy is always looking for volunteers, just like LITA. Volunteers can be musicians who might want to lead a singalong or play an instrument, those who can help load iPod or iPad playlists, or anyone who just wants to spend time with nursing-facility residents.

For volunteer opportunities with LITA, or information on how to support the organization, visit www.litaofcontracosta.org.

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SHARE THE SPIRIT

The Share the Spirit holiday campaign, sponsored by the Bay Area News Group, serves needy residents of Alameda and Contra Costa counties by funding nonprofit holiday and outreach programs.

To make a tax-deductible contribution, clip the coupon accompanying this story or go to www.sharethespiriteastbay.org/donate. Readers with questions, and individuals or businesses interested in making large contributions, may contact the Share the Spirit program at 925-472-5760 or sharethespirit@crisis-center.org.

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(c)2018 the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

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