Good Memories Choir gives dementia patients and their loved ones something to sing about
CHICAGO (CBS) — Studies have shown that music could greatly impact our mood and health.
For a local choir, it serves up healing powers for those coping with early-stage dementia.
The Good Memories Choir held its first spring concert since the pandemic. After four weeks of rehearsal, the Good Memories Choir gets in one last warm-up before the big show at the Fourth Presbyterian Church.
The average age in this choral group is 75, and you don't necessarily need to know how to sing to participate.
The Good Memories Choir is the only choir in Illinois that offers adults with early-stage dementia, along with their caretakers, partners, and volunteers, an opportunity to get together and have what some have described as a life-changing experience.
"So often, after you're struggling on the dementia journey, you spent a lot of time on doctors visits, and going to neurologists and doing this, and that, and the chance to have something joyful to do together is really remarkable," said Good Memories Co-Founder and Conductor Jonathan Miller.
The program was launched in 2018 by Miller and his wife, Sandy Siegel Miller, as an extension of their nonprofit, Sounds Good Choir, which aims to promote the health and well-being of adults 55 and over through music.
The benefits for members like Regan Burke, who started experiencing some memory loss, proved to be a game changer.
"I know that cognitively speaking, I'm much better," Burke said.
"Their effect is good. Their emotion is right on target, and they're interacting verbally. That's the effect of singing," said Co-Founder of Sounds Good Choir Sandy Siegel.
It's show time, and the choir performs classics like "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and gospel hits. The exhilarating experience turns emotional for some who came to support their loved ones.
The singers prove that a diagnosis is certainly not the end of the road.
