National association honors KU music therapy prof for lifetime achievement

LAWRENCE -- University of Kansas professor Alicia Clair, who specializes in music therapy practice with people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias, has received the 2003 American Music Therapy Association Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award, the association's highest honor, recognizes therapists for long-term efforts toward the development and growth of the profession, said Mary Adamek, president of the association.

"The longevity and sheer volume of her [Clair's] published research on music therapy with the elderly, and in particular with persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia, constitutes a body of knowledge in and of itself," Adamek said.

KU was the first in the nation to develop a graduate program centered in research studying the influence of music on behavior. E. Thayer Gaston established the KU music therapy program in 1946.

Clair has worked with people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias and their professional and family caregivers since 1988, and with elderly people who have disabilities, as well as healthy older adults, since 1975. In addition to her classroom instruction, Clair maintains her clinical practice skills in her ongoing work with patients at the Veterans Administration Eastern Kansas Health Care System in Topeka. She regularly conducts clinical sessions and practices research using music therapy.

At KU, Clair directs the music therapy program and coordinates graduate study in music education and music therapy. Her credentials include being music therapist-board certified as well as a fellow with the Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy. She is affiliated faculty in gerontology at KU and is a mentor/trainer in neurologic music therapy at Robert F. Unkefer Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy at Colorado State University in Colorado.

As a speaker, Clair is sought after nationally and internationally. She is in demand as a workshop presenter and consultant, and she is interested in developing practical information for people who want to use music therapeutically for health and wellness.

Clair is past president of the National Association for Music Therapy (now the American Music Therapy Association) and received that organization's National Research Award, the National Service Award and the National Professional Practices Award. In 1991, she testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging regarding the positive effects of music therapy with older people.

Along with many research articles, Clair has written a book titled "Therapeutic Uses of Music with Older Adults," published in 1996 by Health Professions Press, Baltimore.

The Music Education and Music Therapy Division is housed in the Department of Music and Dance, an academic unit of KU's School of Fine Arts.