Communicating through singing. Individual music therapy with persons suffering from dementia

In degenerative diseases like dementia, persons experience problems in communicating. In Alzheimer's disease the language problems resemble Wernicke's aphasia; in vascular, or other types of dementia, the course can be quite different and have less predictable features. When verbal language deteriorates other means of communication are essential and the question can be asked, if it is at all possible to communicate with persons in later stages of dementia? In dementia care the focus of research is on central domains, with a need to generalise and prove effects. In the last decade person centred care where psychological needs are met and validated is developing. This influences music therapy research in gerontology, and inspires to analyses at a pragmatic level which I want to illustrate with clinical case data and video material from my research study in progress