THE joy of music has helped a Dunfermline man suffering from dementia rekindle his connection with his wife.

Mike Haines (69), a resident of Canmore Lodge Care Home on Robertson Road, is living with cerebral amyloid angiopathy, a disease of small blood vessels in the brain that can cause speech difficulties, confusion, brain haemorrhage and stroke.

A former professional mechanical engineer and collections manager with Historic Scotland, he began sessions with the home’s music therapist Lizzie Nightingale and wife Heather in February.

Heather said, “The sessions have helped in the process of rebuilding our relationship; he has become more of the lovely person he was. We had a stage when he was at home, where because of the illness he became a different person and could be quite difficult, especially with me.

“Music therapy has helped restore my love for him.” The initial aims of the sessions were to channel Mike’s physical energy into rhythmic activity and to calm and focus him – he can often be found wandering around the care home where he lives.

The sessions typically involve free improvisation on drums or tuned percussion instruments, though on occasion they listen to music and songs familiar to Mike.

Lizzie, pictured with Mike, said, “In music therapy, Mike’s neurological condition is not a barrier to engaging in positive, meaningful, shared experiences with Heather. In their music-making, you truly wouldn’t know who was the resident! Sometimes Heather copies the arm movements Mike makes, and he tells her she looks silly so we all laugh. Laughter is so important.” Heather has noticed a remarkable difference in her husband but was at first sceptical about the benefits of music therapy.

She explained, “I thought that because of Mike’s condition, many things would only get worse but a lot of things have improved since working with Lizzie. There is more eye contact and Mike now smiles and winks at me again.

“Something of his old personality comes through in the music therapy sessions. I’ve noticed Mike has been talking more, and more of his words make sense. At first he was just whistling and ‘swishing’ a lot to communicate but now he seems to be trying to tell people about things.” Lizzie said, “To facilitate meaningful connection, I encouraged them both to use music as an alternative platform for their communication.

“In our early sessions I saw Mike had great capacity for rhythm and so I brought him a variety of drums, including the gathering, ocean and djembe drum. In more recent sessions Mike and Heather have been playing the same instrument, often tuned percussion. I recall an occasion where Mike declared ‘That was an amazing one!’ following a long and animated improvisation together.

“On another occasion Heather was away so I met with Mike on my own. I introduced myself and purpose in my typical way – ‘Hello Mike, my name is Lizzie and I’m here to do some music with you’, to which he replied ‘Well it’s funny you should say that because my wife and I have been doing something similar’!” She smiled, “I was amazed at his response. He referenced Heather as his wife (until this point, this had been generally rare) and he was able to actually recall having played music with her.

“It was also a longer coherent statement than is typical. His association with the room, and with music-making, seemed to be becoming established.” Heather added, “Since this occasion Mick has referred to me as his wife more often.

“As a family we now use music as a thing to share and we listen to music together. Our son, Tim, brings in a guitar and Mick taps to his music. Sometimes Tim fetches him an instrument so he can join in. Recently when we Skyped Doug, our other son who lives in Spain, we took along the xylophone so Mick could communicate that way and my daughter said that during a visit my grandson played the xylophone and Mick started singing along.”