12 May, 2016 | 1 min read

Country Music Lover

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Gloria claps her hands and taps her feet to The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. Gloria enjoys classic country music, but she didn’t have a personal playlist of her favorites. In fact, no one knew that Gloria, 66, even liked classic country. Fifteen years ago she moved to Eskaton Care Center Greenhaven, a skilled nursing facility in Sacramento. When Music and Memory rolled out at this care center it took 30 days to build Gloria a play list through trial and error. Heather Craig, executive director, sat with Gloria and an iPad in the Therapeutic Healing Garden. Together they listened to 20 different songs. Gloria was able to mouth “Yes”, “No” or “Maybe” to each song. Her verbal skills are limited. “She understands a lot more than people give her credit for,” said Craig. Listening to music creates more expression on her face and her foot taps faster. The staff now sings along with Gloria.