Communicating through music

Henrietta Bredin on how Music for Life can help overcome the isolation of dementia sufferers

I am looking at an elderly woman, tiny in a huge armchair. She has not spoken for months, she has not maintained eye contact with anyone for even longer and she has developed a nervous compulsion to keep one hand always up to her chin, covering her mouth. A woman in a pink overall is sitting next to her, gently stroking her hand, and a young man with a violin is kneeling at her feet. With infinite patience, the violinist starts to play a simple tune, making it even quieter, more exploratory, when she appears to flinch at the sound of the first notes. Very, very slowly, almost indiscernibly, the woman’s tight, clenched muscles relax slightly. The little tune trickles on. Her hand uncurls and comes away from her mouth. Tremulously, uncertainly, her lips part and an irresistible wavery smile begins to spread over her face, a smile of astonished delight and total engagement.