Drum Therapy Builds Community

“Even in their eighties, people have the potential to grow,” explains Paul Padial, a Community Coordinator at our Manhattan nursing home.

Thanks to a popular new activity taking place at the Manhattan campus, many elder residents are now adding “Percussionist” to their long and accomplished resumes.

Every Thursday afternoon, residents from age 65 to 102 get together, joined by staff and family, to form a Drum Circle – and to experience the benefits of drum beating, which can include reduction in depression, stress, and pain, as well as a boost to one’s immune system.

Padial, a drummer, began the circle with Cantor Daniel Pincus, a JHL chaplain, music educator, and professional musician.

“Everyone! Tell me how you’re feeling. Tell me how you’re feeling with your instrument,” Padial calls out during a recent circle. The group answers with a vigorous shakes, rattles, and drumming. 

Encouraging Self-Expression, and Smiles
Enjoying the Physical Benefits
Strengthening Community
Having Fun!

Encouraging Self-Expression, and Smiles

Padial explains that the drum circle has revealed “people wanting to express themselves. The circle provides a welcome and needed outlet for self-expression. Especially for those residents uncomfortable with or unable to express how they are feeling verbally, drumming is a valuable outlet.”

For the family members of most residents, hearing from Paul or other staff members that their relative has been taking part in the circle is quite a surprise. Padial explains that the drumming seems to bring out parts of the residents’ personalities that had not been seen before, or in a very long time.

After observing a drum circle, the granddaughter of one participant commented, “The elders when they play look youthful. Their faces change.”

Staff notes that residents have more energy and enthusiasm in general, since they began playing in the circle.

Ms. Laure Gaekle, who at 102 is the oldest drummer in the group, has mobility issues and now spends most of her time in bed. The drumming circle though, is something she will not miss. “I love it,” she states with a broad smile.

Enjoying the Physical Benefits

Many of the residents had never played the drums before participating in this circle. Says Cantor Pincus, “It does not take a lot of skill to make a percussion instrument sound good.  What they are doing is making something of beauty, and that is a deeply enriching and enlivening human experience.”

It is also possible to do it despite physical or cognitive impairments. JHL’s Occupational Therapy Department has attended the drum circles and offers valuable input in recommending appropriate hand instruments based on individual residents’ physical limitations.

And rhythm can help with physical therapy. Some of the benefits researchers are attributing to therapeutic drumming include pain reduction, increased focus, sharpened motor skills, and increased range of motion. It has been verified that drumming also accelerates physical healing, boosts the immune system, releases emotional trauma and produces feelings of well-being.

JHL residents who participate note the activity seems to reduce the pain of arthritis and other chronic conditions. A resident who suffers from chronic pain and attends the drum circles reports that she feels “”no pain for an hour. It’s an hour to forget about the pain.” She continues, “I feel that the drums give a message of hope.”

Research suggests that drumming not only distracts participants from pain and sadness. It actually promotes the production of endorphins and other painkillers made by our own bodies, and therefore helps control pain. (from Michael Winkelman’s Shamanism: The Neural Ecology of Consciousness and Healing.)

Strengthening Community

For some, the circle also provides time to share verbally – they speak about their feelings while drumming and memories related to drumming. It opens the doors to conversations that might otherwise not take place.

At the first session, Padial and Cantor Pincus brought in collections of drums from home. They included several Moroccan drums elegantly painted with henna tattoos, an American Indian drum large enough to be played by several people at once, typical Latin bongos, and an Egyptian dumbek, as well as a Caribbean claves, tambourines, and other percussion instruments. All the instruments were placed in the center of the circle. The facilitators initiated a discussion of the different drums. Residents were soon sharing memories and impressions associated with the instruments and the cultures where the drums came from.

In a drum circle, “Everyone is speaking, everyone is heard, and each person’s sound is an essential part of the whole.” says Robert Friedman in his book The Healing Power of the Drum.

Padial explains that the circle has really brought some residents out of their shells. For the cognitively impaired, drumming is a way to express oneself without the frustration of trying to communicate verbally. And drumming builds relationships between the people playing together.

Continues Padial, “Everything we do here is relationship-based.” And the drumming circle, he explains, “is really about forming a community that’s self-directed.” Adds Cantor Pincus, “The residents relish playing in combination, building musical skill and enjoy having their part to play in the overall structure.”

Cantor Pincus is now working with our Therapeutic Recreation department  to facilitate rhythm based events for our more cognitively impaired residents.

It is not only the residents that enjoy the afternoon jam sessions. Staff, too, come to watch and participate. Jacob, a CNA, is a drummer himself. He plays the middle eastern doumbek with an infectious enthusiasm. 

As the residents play, staff members dance in the middle of the circle, some shaking maracas or tambourines. Everyone is smiling. Padial relates that he too is energized by the circle. For participating staff, the drumming helps establish bonds with those they care for, builds a stronger sense of team, and gives everyone a jolt of energy and exuberance.

Having Fun!

During a break in today’s circle, Padial walks around the group with a microphone, asking the drummers to describe what they feel. “Young,” “peaceful,” “content,” “free,” “happier,” and “energized” are some of the words the residents use to describe their experiences.

Then facilitators Padial and Pincus call for a moment of reflection. Cantor Pincus explains, “This is our eleventh week. [Paul and I] figured out the other day how it all started. One afternoon in March, I wanted to find something new to do here, some new way to bring joy and energy to everyone.  I fetched my bongos and said to Paul, ‘I’m going to try something.’” He goes on to describe that as he sat in the center of the community room and began to drum, some of the staff began to dance. The watching residents began to clap. Noting the lively, festive energy in the room, Padial and Pincus looked at each other and agreed, “This is awesome!”  And so it continues to be, every Thursday afternoon at the Jewish Home Lifecare Drum Circle in Manhattan.

Learn more about Music Therapy at Jewish Home Lifecare.

Some of our volunteers can now add Drummer to their resumes, too!

Find out more about life as a resident at Jewish Home Lifecare.