Jane Naylor and Denise Mullin eagerly take their seats at the front of a bright room in Tulsa, smiling and ready to sing.
Twice a month, a professional singer and piano player from the Tulsa Opera visit their care facility – The Grove at Midtown – to lead a large group of seniors in song.
Music is brought to The Grove and other retirement homes by Songs by Heart, a nonprofit trying to combat the negative experience memory loss has on many people as they age. Dani Keil helped start the Tulsa program in 2022. She said its live music therapy intervention has made real differences in the lives of Oklahomans.
“The best parts are when people who have been a little bit disengaged by their eye contact and body language start singing and come alive with it,” she said.
Keil is the program’s director of community engagement. She said she knows something special happens when nurses or staff members pull out their phones to take videos for family members. And when a resident who participated regularly passed away, their family even asked for one of its singers to sing at their memorial service, Keil said.
Using familiar songs like “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” “Oklahoma!” and “You Are My Sunshine,” the program not only engages participants with music, but adds movement and conversation to their day.
Songs from participants’ youth they have heard many times manage to stick in their brains even when other memories start to fade, said Meggie Gaskins from the Oklahoma chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.
“We know that some of the biggest memories live deep within,” Gaskins said, “And so those songs may bring back wonderful memories and we’ve seen that with Songs by Heart.”
Gaskins said the happiness of remembering childhood songs is extremely valuable, especially because aggression and confusion are common symptoms of memory loss.
“The moments of joy are crucial,” she said. “Alzheimer’s is devastating. And it impacts so much more than just the person living with the disease.”
The Alzheimer’s Association helps train artists working for Songs by Heart. According to the association, more than 70,000 people over the age of 65 live with Alzheimer's in Oklahoma, and 108,000 family members are in charge of their care.
Studies also show cognitive function improves after music therapy application for people experiencing Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.
Oklahoma music therapist Suzanne Heppel said part of the reason is how the brain registers music.
“The thing that I see with stroke patients lots of times when they have been diagnosed with aphasia, is that music and language are processed in two different areas of the brain,” said the therapist who works at the Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Hospital.
Along with stimulating memory, group singing can create community.
“They hear the music, the upbeat tempos, the songs they are familiar with, older songs they’ve known, and you just see that recognition and security when so much of their world is insecure and confusing and isolating,” Heppel said.
Songs by Heart is a high point for seniors living at The Grove. Residents Naylor and Mullin say they look forward to the program’s visits far in advance.
“With the group, you just, it just lifts you up, doesn't it?” Naylor said. “It's infectious, right?”
“It's the highlight of my week when I know they're coming,” Mullin added.
Mullin said Naylor has become her “activity girl.” They are also trivia and hangman partners outside of sing-alongs.
Karlena Riggs, a resident artist at the Tulsa Opera, said the joy doesn’t stop with the participants.
“Every time I do one of these, it's… I can be having the worst day ever and leave here with a huge smile on my face,” Riggs said.
While she leads the group in song, she walks around, pausing in front of different people in the room to smile and lock eyes.
“There's something really magical about seeing how the music affects people who maybe go from, you know, barely speaking, barely making eye contact, and the way that the music just opens their world up and allows them to engage with us and with each other,” she said.
Right now, Songs by Heart visits a dozen different residential homes. And because of grant funding, Keil said they can also have no-cost weekly sessions at the Tulsa Opera offices. Every Thursday at 2 p.m., caretakers and activity buses are welcome to bring seniors who want to join in for a chorus of familiar songs.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
