(Zachary Swegger/ Futurity) — The room transformed as an older woman danced around the skilled nursing care unit to rock ‘n’ roll hits from her youth. Her husband later took her hands and joined her in a two-step tour of the space. First-year Penn State College of Medicine medical student John Bufalini watched in awe as the couple’s joy filled the room at the assisted living facility.
“That was when I first witnessed the true power of music,” says Bufalini, who is now an internal medicine resident at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. “I watched a quiet woman go from sitting in a chair passively interacting with her world to a lively lady dancing around the room. I also saw her husband enjoy every step of that transformation as well.”
Bufalini observed that moment while collecting data during a research study supervised by Daniel George, associate professor of humanities and public health sciences, and Paul Eslinger, a professor of neurology and neuropsychologist. (…)