News
Rochester Post Bulletin
06/23/2009
Hospice patients make music
By Matthew Stolle
mstolle@postbulletin.com
One of music therapist Julie Szamocki's patients is an elderly woman in the later stages of Alzheimer's disease.
The woman is unable to carry on a meaningful conversation anymore. When she does speak, it rarely has any relationship to the time or place she happens to be in.
Yet her memory for music remains largely unimpaired. And so last week, without the aid of a musical instrument, Szamocki began to sing a series of old-time songs with her patient, whose agile singing voice was soon harmonizing with her own.
In the hospice community, they call it being present in the moment, and it was clear that Szamocki had reached that moment with her patient, who was soon looking down the hallway and waving people to come over and listen.
"She was so pleased with herself, because she knew she was making this beautiful music, and she knew she was being successful," said Szamocki, who joined the staff at Seasons Hospice in September as the organization's first music therapist.
Szamocki will be the featured speaker at the Seasons Hospice Lunch & Learn event for the general public. Titled "Singing for our lives: Music Therapy on the Hospice Journey," the event will be held July 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 512 Third St. S.W., Rochester.
Szamocki, who worked in hospices in the Twin Cities for the past five years, said music therapy is part of a large commitment by Seasons Hospice to address the whole person, not just their medical needs.
Music has long been a recognized therapy for the treatment of people with mental illness and children with autism. But it's only been in the last 15 years or so that it has been incorporated in hospice settings.
A lot of the referrals Szamocki receives come from patients who love music. Sometimes, they are simply lonely.
Szamocki tells the story of one woman who had become angry and frustrated over her growing loss of freedom. The woman kept forgetting to turn off her oxygen when she went out to smoke a cigarette.The nursing home staff responded by putting a Wanderguard device on her. Every time she walked near the door to go smoke, it would set off an alarm.
The measure was aimed at preventing an accident, but the experience was shaming for her.
So how did music help? They wrote a song about the experience. To the tune, "Walking in a Winter Wonderland," they sang "Walking with a blasted Wanderguard." The woman came up with lyrics, and Szamocki wrote down the words and laid down the chords.
"By the end of the time together, she was in a different place. She was laughing about the situation," Szamocki said.
The Seasons Hospice Lunch & Learn event is free and you can bring your own lunch. To register, call 285-1930, ext. 201 or jelkins@seasonshospice.org.