Therapeutic Drumming: Help For AD Patients And Their Caregivers

By Shannon Hicks

Music has always been recognized as a calming agent and an antidote to stress and tension. One support group in Newtown is being offered by two people who understand that thinking and are hoping to bring serenity and a level of calmness to local Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia among older people. AD is a brain disorder that seriously affects a person’s ability to carry out daily activities. It involves the parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. Every day scientists learn more, but right now the causes of AD are still unknown, and there is no cure.

Scientists think that up to four million Americans suffer from AD; in Connecticut alone it is estimated that 100,000 people are currently affected. AD is a slow disease, starting with mild memory problems and ending with severe brain damage. The course the disease takes and how fast changes occur vary from person to person. AD patients generally live from eight to ten years after they are diagnosed, though the disease can last for as many as 20 years.

The Rev Bob Werme (pronounced “war-ma”), a Congregational minister and musician, specializes in using music and drums to bring healing and joy to persons and families living with mental illness and dementia. His wife Robin is a massage therapist, dancer, and artist, and together the couple conducts healing ministry through SoundSteps Therapeutic Services, based in Woodbury.

Since November Mr Werme has been visiting The Homesteads at Newtown to co-lead a support group, Therapeutic Drumming, for Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers. The group meets at 7:30 pm on the first and third Wednesday of each month. Due to space limitations, attendees are asked to call before attending.

“We’re doing very well,” says Patricia Forbes, the group’s second leader. “We are actually thinking of breaking into two groups now, doing an afternoon group and the evening group on Wednesdays. Because there aren’t that many support groups out there for caregivers, we’re hoping the public will hear about this one and take advantage of what we’re trying to offer.

The group’s first meeting in 2004 will be on January 21. Upcoming meetings are scheduled for February 4 and 18 and March 3 and 17.

Therapeutic Drumming is a support group in coordination with Alzheimer’s Association, said Ms Forbes. People are more than welcome to show up the night of a meeting, she says, although she would prefer that prospective attendees “at least call to let me know they’re coming, and also to share some background.”

The group, says Ms Forbes, is basically for the caregivers, “to gather support and any kind of help in caring for their loved ones in this disease. We try to keep abreast of the latest information on the disease. We share stories of what has worked for us in the past, and what hasn’t worked, hoping that this will help others in the same situation.”

For those afflicted with AD, the music of Mr Werme reaches across a barrier that talking does not always cross. Mr Werme uses music, primarily drumming, to provide sound therapy and spiritual care. In addition to being a drummer, Mr Werme is a guitarist, Native American flute player, and vocalist. He has years of experience as a performer, group facilitator, and workshop leader.

Sarah Naphen of Newtown has attended a few Therapeutic Drumming meetings.

“It’s very helpful to go to the group and share with others,” said Mrs Naphen. “Sometimes I’ve brought my mom [who has AD], and that’s where the music comes into the group a lot. I think having the patients there, and some of the seniors who live over there, has really helped. It’s been a really good way for all of us to connect.

“There’s a whole energy that goes on, especially with the drumming,” Mrs Naphen continued. “This is very new to me –– a few weeks ago was the first time I drummed, and we’ve done a lot of singing –– but it’s been very neat.

“The music lives in all of us, no matter where your mental or emotional bodies are,” she added. “I think my mother has enjoyed it.”

“Rev Werme is very talented,” said Ms Forbes. “He brings his drums and offers an outlet for some when words may not be enough. There’s always music to try to reach emotions. A support group is where we tend to let our emotions out, and music is always of help.

“He also brings, being a reverend, a spiritual aspect to the group, which has been very helpful to a lot of our members.”

Following a monthlong study conducted at Miami Veterans Administration Medical Center in late 1999, during which 20 male patients with AD participated in a music therapy program for 30 to 40 minutes five times a week for four weeks, patients became more able to identify with the songs and could request their music preferences as the program progressed.

The course of music therapy improved behavior and sleeping problems, reported Reuters Health Service on January 28, 2000. The researchers credited these improvements to increased levels of secretion of the hormone melatonin, which “may have contributed to patients’ relaxed and calm mood.”

“[Music therapy] can make the difference,” says Barbara Crowe, a past president of The National Association for Music Therapy, “between withdrawal and awareness, between isolation and interaction, between chronic pain and comfort –– between demoralization and dignity.”

The Homesteads at Newtown is at 166 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6). Contact Ms Forbes, at 426-8118, for additional information about the support group Therapeutic Drumming.