Grease the Wheels with Music: Using music to motivate

Beverly didn’t want to walk down the hall. 

The nursing assistant cajoled, she teased, she demanded. 

As her frustration grew she even tugged a little bit. 

Beverly wasn’t having it. 

This scene played out as I arrived for music. 

Nursing assistants have a hard job. And I am always looking for ways that I can join their team, help out, and to be honest, model ways to use music to make caregiving easier. 

I greeted Beverly warmly, put my arm gently around her shoulder and began to sing I’ve Been Working on the Railroad. 

Without asking her to walk with me, we stepped forward together to the beat of the music. 

Have you ever had trouble getting folks started, moving from one place to another? Give this simple strategy a try. 

As Hans Christian Anderson said “Where words fail, music speaks.”

Right after I wrote this blog post I came across this brilliant Ted Talk called Music: Medicine for the Brain. It's only 8 minutes long and so powerful and so hopeful. PLEASE watch it.

Did you know that you can listen to short clips from all the songs on both of my CDs on my website? Follow this link to check out my new CD Sing Along with Mary Sue: Folk Song Favorites for Young and Old.