Dan Cohen

Discipline: 
Music/arts organization
Health-related organization
Educator
Organization/Affiliation (no abbreviation): 
Right to Music
Location: 
Mineola, NY 11501
United States
Short biography and a description of your interest(s) in music and health: 
Dan Cohen, MSW, founder and CEO of Right to Music, advocates for integrating best practice music systems into healthcare and promoting the power of music. He founded Music & Memory, a nonprofit organization that promotes the use of personalized music to improve the lives of the elderly and infirm. The therapeutic outcomes of his work are portrayed in the Sundance audience award-winning documentary, "Alive Inside.”
Collaboration Interests: 
1. Improve quality of life and quality of care for persons with neurocognitive decline and to enhance healthy aging. Advocate for the right music to facilitate person-directed and relationship-centered care, with such access available to all; 2. Educate healthcare professionals and the public on the growing research related to music’s impact on improving mood, socialization, sleep; and reducing depression, anxiety, pain, delirium, falls, caregiver stress, symptoms of schizophrenia, and off-label antipsychotic medications; 3. Advocate for increased university training of healthcare professionals that uses instruction about music and the arts to reduce ageism and increase empathy as new nurses, physicians, and social workers enter the workforce.
Keywords: 
cognitive impairment, healthy aging, advocacy, quality of life