Laughter is the best medecine

My friend Paul recently sent me a news article about comedians helping Alzheimer's disease and other dementia patients.  The article recalls the origins of a group named "Laughter on Call," beginning with a female comedian (Dani Klein Modisett) whose mother was institutionalized with Alzheimer's disease.  She hired a comedian to spend eight hours a week with her mother who had become withdrawn.  The improvements this brought to her mother's mood inspired her to start Laughter on Call.  The organization pairs comedians with dementia patients and sometimes does shows at memory care facilities.  They have attracted attention for improving the quality of life for many Alzheimer's sufferers.

Obviously, this won't help everyone.  Earlier this week, I was visiting a friend in a memory care facility, when another man came and sat with us.  He was quiet and had an expressionless face, although he seemed to want human company.  I asked him what his name was, and he replied in a barely audible voice that he didn't know.

I don't know for sure, but I think this latter man would struggle to follow comedy or the story line of a joke.  On the other hand, he might respond to music.  You may have heard of the documentary film, Alive Inside.  Alive Inside was presented at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and attracted a lot of attention.  The film examined research on the effect of music on Alzheimer's disease patients, focusing on how music may awaken memories.  I don't know what the effect of music is on the disease itself, but the documentary certainly showed that I-pods could improve the quality of life of people with fairly advanced dementia.