The documentary, "Alive Inside," is a heart touching and ground breaking documentary with the
potential to revolutionize treatment for patients with Alzheimers disease and dementia. The film was made by Michael Rossato-Bennett and was shown at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Since then, the film has been released on Netflix and has gone viral, understandably so. The idea behind the documentary is captivating enough, but the clips and characters make the film a hard one to turn away from.
The film follows Dan Cohen, a social worker who discovered the impact music can have on people in nursing homes. The footage shows the incredible transformation of almost comatose patients becoming lively people who are able to sing and dance within moments of hearing songs of their youth. The most astonishing character was Henry, an elderly man who hardly spoke or moved until headphones were placed on his head. Once he heard the music, his eyes opened wide, he sat up, and he danced and sang to "that beautiful music" as he explained where and when he would hear songs as a child.
The film served as more than just a way to experience these life-changing moments; it highlighted the problems with contemporary nursing "homes." The documentary portrayed contemporary nursing homes like hospitals. The buildings seemed lifeless and so the people inside seemed almost lifeless as well as they trudged through their daily routine of watching tv and taking their pills. According to the doctors in the film, the pills didn't make much of a different in the lives and progress of the patients. This isn't to say that Dan Cohen's music theory is a cure for Alzheimers or other mental diseases, but at least when people heard the music, they seemed to be full of life, emotion and color, no matter how bad their health may have been. Some of the elderly were even able to stay with their husbands in their homes, being kept stable by the music and kept free of drugs. This concept seems like something that could so easily be accepted in nursing homes, to provide those within better living standards, but when Cohen expressed the idea to management, nursing home owners and managers were unwilling, saying the program would be too costly or too risky.
It wasn't until the video of Henry popped up on reddit, an user generated news, picture, and video website, that word of Cohen's success spread to the world, and not just on independent media. That link was the key to Cohen's appearances on mainstream media, including shows like CNN. Reddit is a site trafficked by millions of people a day. When millions saw the video, Cohen was flooded with calls, comments, and even donations to get the program into nursing centers around the country, and even a little in Canada.
I've heard of reddit and I've even used it to browse through funny .gifs of puppies, but I never thought the site would be such a huge part in changing the lives of hundreds of people. Since the video went viral, the Music and Memory program is in hundreds of centers in more than 50 states and countries, with that number growing every day.
The music and memory theory is mind-blowing enough, but the idea that one video link on one website can literally affect hundreds of thousands of lives is incredible. This idea is one that I hope to continue to see happen in so many different fields. It's a reminder that there is good in the world, and that the internet isn't just cats, porn, shopping, and sad news.
The film served as more than just a way to experience these life-changing moments; it highlighted the problems with contemporary nursing "homes." The documentary portrayed contemporary nursing homes like hospitals. The buildings seemed lifeless and so the people inside seemed almost lifeless as well as they trudged through their daily routine of watching tv and taking their pills. According to the doctors in the film, the pills didn't make much of a different in the lives and progress of the patients. This isn't to say that Dan Cohen's music theory is a cure for Alzheimers or other mental diseases, but at least when people heard the music, they seemed to be full of life, emotion and color, no matter how bad their health may have been. Some of the elderly were even able to stay with their husbands in their homes, being kept stable by the music and kept free of drugs. This concept seems like something that could so easily be accepted in nursing homes, to provide those within better living standards, but when Cohen expressed the idea to management, nursing home owners and managers were unwilling, saying the program would be too costly or too risky.
It wasn't until the video of Henry popped up on reddit, an user generated news, picture, and video website, that word of Cohen's success spread to the world, and not just on independent media. That link was the key to Cohen's appearances on mainstream media, including shows like CNN. Reddit is a site trafficked by millions of people a day. When millions saw the video, Cohen was flooded with calls, comments, and even donations to get the program into nursing centers around the country, and even a little in Canada.
I've heard of reddit and I've even used it to browse through funny .gifs of puppies, but I never thought the site would be such a huge part in changing the lives of hundreds of people. Since the video went viral, the Music and Memory program is in hundreds of centers in more than 50 states and countries, with that number growing every day.
The music and memory theory is mind-blowing enough, but the idea that one video link on one website can literally affect hundreds of thousands of lives is incredible. This idea is one that I hope to continue to see happen in so many different fields. It's a reminder that there is good in the world, and that the internet isn't just cats, porn, shopping, and sad news.
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