Carol Rosenstein, the founder of Music Mends Minds, joins Suzanne to talk more about how her program expanded during COVID.

Carol explains, “COVID closed us down, and it was a nightmare. And a board certified music therapist hired to participate in our in-person groups said there's something called Zoom. Zoom? Let's Zoom. So seniors showed up on Zoom, and we started to connect with people from all over the world, because it doesn't matter where you're located. We continued our growth spurt in spite of the closing down. Today, we're still on Zoom three times a week 11:30 to 12:30 Monday Wednesday Friday, and we're singing, socializing, and having the best time ever on Zoom.”

The kind of music they feature is from the older generation, because our memory recalls all of the oldies but goodies, and so when you sing an oldie but goodie, you've got the music as the anchor. “Music excites those cells from yesteryear, and that's why our seniors will wake up and sing a song. Sing a song – it's as palpable and important as having that pill out of your medicine jar. And the side effects are pure joy and increased brain function, not only for the patients, but the caregivers and the families at large. It's a win win win situation with music.”

For more information, email Carol at info@musicmendsminds.org/, call her at (818) 326-0500, and you can donate to keep them growing at https://www.musicmendsminds.org/.

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