Music As Medicine

Monica W. Parker, MD, Crystal P. Davis, Emilie P. Bush, Erin Jones, Marcel Foster

Background

Attending the theatre, concerts, or the opera once a year or more has protective associations with both memory loss and semantic fluency1. In 2025, the Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Emory University, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Performance Hypothesis collaborated to make symphony concerts more accessible to people living with cognitive impairment and their care partners.

Methods

We provided 190 area residents with free tickets to live performances by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. A post event survey, with seven questions, was completed by fifty participants.

Results

Attendees had a strong experience of joy and excitement in attending this program. They would recommend the program to a friend and hope to attend a future concert (100% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed). ▪Slightly less reported an experience of an increased sense of connection and/or that listening to music increased their sense of peace (between 12-16% disagreed). There were mixed reviews in observing an increased positive mood for the attendee living with Alzheimer’s. (Thirty-six percent disagreed)

- 100% reported experiencing joy and excitement and would recommend the program - 84% felt more connected through the event - 64% observed positive mood changes in loved ones with ADRD - 36% did not observe a mood change

 Conclusion

Attendance at the Symphony may improve mood and well-being for people with cognitive impairment and their families.