The History of Music Therapy’s Use in Dementia Treatment in the United States, 1950 —1997

Bahhadi, Joseph

The History of Music Therapy’s Use in Dementia Treatment in the United States, 1950 —1997

dc.contributor.advisor	Stahnisch, Frank W.
dc.contributor.author	Bahhadi, Joseph
dc.contributor.committeemember	Bell, Adam Patrick
dc.contributor.committeemember	Hendrikse, Jesse Love
dc.date.accessioned	2024-07-05T16:16:21Z
dc.date.available	2024-07-05T16:16:21Z
dc.date.issued	2024-05-23
dc.description.abstract	There has been little exploration of the emergence of music therapy’s use with people with dementia. This historical research explores the development of music therapy’s use with people with dementia in the United States during the period between the start of the music therapy profession in 1950 and the unification of United States music therapy associations in 1997. A content analysis of materials from the American Music Therapy Association archive and oral history interviews with key figures and historians in music therapy revealed that research into music therapy and dementia began in the middle of 1985 and grew out of the emerging research interest in geriatric music therapy that began in 1974. Furthermore, a U.S. Senate Hearing in 1991 that successfully persuaded The United States Senate Special Committee on Aging to pass the Music Therapy for Older Americans Act was identified as central to the development of music therapy’s use with dementia populations due to the bill’s resultant surge of federal funding into music therapy research and the increased public awareness of music therapy’s beneficial effects on those with dementia from the hearing. Lastly, Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins’ ‘creative music therapy’ and Tom Kitwood’s ‘person-centred dementia care’ shared humanistic approaches to treatment, creating a theoretical overlap that aided in the utilization of music therapy’s use as a more widespread treatment for dementia since the 1990s.
dc.identifier.citation	Bahhadi, J. (2024). The history of music therapy’s use in dementia treatment in the United States, 1950 —1997 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/118822
dc.identifier.uri	https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/46419
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Arts
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	history of medicine
dc.subject	music thearpy
dc.subject	dementia
dc.subject	Alzheimer's Disease
dc.subject	history of psyschology
dc.subject	history of music therapy
dc.subject.classification	Mental Health
dc.subject.classification	Education--Music
dc.subject.classification	History--United States
dc.title	The History of Music Therapy’s Use in Dementia Treatment in the United States, 1950 —1997
dc.type	master thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Medicine – Community Health Sciences
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.