UVM Larner College of Medicine medical students and colleagues regularly visit the memory care unit at the University of Vermont Medical Center to play music and sing songs with patients. Launched as a personal project by Jonathan Palmer ’27 through the Larner College of Medicine Center on Aging, this “Musical Brain Initiative” has grown into a thriving group led by medical students as a way to help patients with cognitive decline feel less lonely and more connected to a community.
“Music has been shown to be beneficial for people’s mental health, and I know that for me, music is important for my mental health—both listening to music and playing music with my peers. And so hopefully the same positivity it brings to my life, we were able to bring to these patients today.” — Aiden Masters ’27
For students in health care professions, it’s a great way to bond with patients and with each other, boost everyone’s mental well-being, and practice valuable skills for caring for people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
“As healers and leaders in health care, our responsibilities extend beyond the preservation of life,” Jonathan Palmer wrote in a recent blog post. “In a place like a hospital, where lives, abilities, and identities are lost or transformed every day and struggling souls are asked to accommodate existential burdens, we are also obliged to reinforce the dignity and humanity of those in our care.”
Watch Music as Medicine video essay on the UVM Larner Med Blog