9 Health Benefits of Music as You Age

Older adults find music to be more than a source of entertainment. The vast majority say it improves their health, according to a new report.

Results from the latest AARP-supported University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging find that 98 percent of adults ages 50 to 80 get some sort of health-related benefit from music, the most common being stress relief and relaxation.  

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Other reported benefits include pain relief and improvement in mood and mental health. What’s more, a significant share of older adults (27 percent) say music connects them to others — a key finding, given the toll that loneliness and isolation can take on one’s health. A recent advisory from the U.S. surgeon general says social disconnection can shorten lives by about as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. About 1 in 3 older adults (34 percent) report feeling isolated from others, data from 2023 shows.

The overwhelming consensus that music makes people feel better is something that we have to take “very seriously,” says Joel Howell, M.D., a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and a coauthor on the poll. “What else in the world can you get 98 percent agreement on?”

There’s no doubt music’s role in medicine has grown in recent years, as it’s been shown to affect blood pressure, memory, pain, depression, stroke recovery and more. And Howell says that evolution could continue as more health care providers pay attention to how one’s social environment affects overall well-being.

“While music doesn’t come up often in older adults’ visits with their usual care providers, perhaps it should,” poll director Jeffrey Kullgren, M.D., a primary care physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, said in a news release. “The power of music to connect us, improve mood and energy, or even ease pain (like 7 percent of respondents said it does for them), means it could be a powerful tool.”

The report’s authors note that the benefits of relaxation, stress relief, improvement in mood and greater energy “could be especially helpful for those facing physical and mental health challenges.” They write that “health system and aging services leaders should consider ways to expand opportunities for older people to engage with music to support their health and well-being.”