Listening to religious music helps seniors increase their life satisfaction and self-esteem, and decreases anxiety around death, according to new analysis published in the Journal of Gerontology. Music also helped seniors appreciate a sense of control, according to researchers at Baylor University, University of Texas- San Antonio, Bowling Green State University and Duke University. The research suggests that long-term care residents may benefit from listening to religious music. Responses were collected among more than 1,000 adults, all over age 65, who were either practicing Christians, identified as Christian in their past, or who were unaffiliated with a specific faith.
"Given that religious music is available to most individuals — even those with health problems or physical limitations that might preclude participation in more formal aspects of religious life — it might be a valuable resource for promoting mental health later in the life course,” the authors concluded. Results appeared in The Journal of Gerontology.
According to McNights Long-term Care News, a 2013 study, also published in the Journal of Gerontology, considering the use of religious songs in helping older African Americans cope with stressful life events, also found that songs evoking themes of thanksgiving, communication with God, and life after death improved the mental health of those studied. These join a growing amount of research literature that associates various religious factors with positive mental and physical health, and even suggests that aspects of religious involvement may reduce mortality risk.
Go here for an article discussing the broader Family and Psycho-Social Dimensions of Death and Dying in African Americans.
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