He was put in a medically induced coma, his wife Ellen recounted to AFP, and was in intensive care for about a month. Nine weeks of extensive rehabilitation including speech therapy followed, and today he experiences significant short-term memory loss.Music therapy proved invaluable in the rehab of the onetime studio musician who said he has played for the likes of Jimi Hendrix.And today, the Kaufmans are regulars at a Manhattan concert program designed for individuals experiencing dementia symptoms.The couple recently attended a 10th anniversary performance of the program that featured the Calidore String Quartet.The musicians closed out the spring season to a packed house of some 100 people.One audience member closed her eyes and mimed conducting as the artists played Mozart, while another tapped her caregiver's arm as if there were piano keys.
There is copious data supporting the value of art, music and dance therapy for people with cognitive impairment and symptoms of dementia © ANGELA WEISS / AFP
Lincoln Center, the famed arts complex on New York's Upper West Side, began the series "out of a need," said Miranda Hoffner, the insitution's accessibility director."We were hearing more and more from our subscribers at the Philharmonic and the Chamber Music Society that they weren't renewing their subscriptions because of dementia, as their family members were impacted," she told AFP."That was an audience that has really supported us for, in some cases, decades," she continued."We felt a responsibility to fill that gap."Aging populationDementia is an umbrella term for debilitating symptoms that can result in memory loss and impair movement and daily life. Alzheimer's disease accounts for the majority of cases, but a range of risk factors and conditions can trigger it.According to the World Health Organization, as of 2021 some 57 million people had dementia globally, with about 10 million new cases each year. The condition is progressive, and there is no cure.
