Music as Medicine: Pat and Rafik Bishara
9/19/2025 12AM
Carmel residents Pat and Rafik Bishara are supporters and frequent patrons of Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts, where their enjoyment of music is helping to slow the progression of Pat's Alzheimer's symptoms.
How the arts help one local couple navigate Alzheimer’s
When Pat Bishara walks into the Payne & Mencias Palladium at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, something magical happens. The 80-year-old woman, diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in December 2017, transforms. Her eyes light up, her body moves to the rhythm, and for those precious hours, the fog of dementia lifts.
“You forget about your other issues,” Pat explains. “You're so involved with the music or the show or whatever that I don't have any other cares in the world at that point.”
Pat and her husband, Rafik, have been attending shows at Allied Solutions Center since its early years, gradually adding more performances to their subscription each season. What began as entertainment has evolved into something much more profound: therapy through the arts.
Pat's journey with Alzheimer’s began with simple confusion. “I would walk into a room to do something and I forget what I was going to do there,” she recalls. When her daughter, a physician assistant, noticed the pattern, she gently raised concerns about memory issues.
Rafik is a retired pharmacist, Ph.D., who worked at Eli Lilly & Co. for over 35 years. After Pat received early diagnosis, she participated in a Lilly clinical trial for nearly four years and was among several people who testified before the FDA in 2024, advocating for approval of Lilly’s new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
Alongside medical interventions, Pat discovered something else very powerful: the healing properties of music and live performance.
Keeping the mind engaged
Rafik understands Alzheimer’s disease from a scientific perspective, yet he also has witnessed how the arts complement traditional treatment.
“Music is medicine. Music is part of helping with Alzheimer’s disease,” he says. “If you keep the diagnosed patient active, whether it’s crosswords, playing cards, listening to music, going to shows or singing, all those continue to keep the brain cells active, continue to help the neurons send the signals.”
The couple's relationship with Allied Solutions Center has deepened as Pat’s condition has progressed. They arrive early for donor gatherings, enjoying appetizers and connecting with other patrons. The social aspect proves as valuable as the performances themselves.
“I look forward to it,” Pat says about their regular attendance at performances. “And every year we've been adding more and more shows that we’re coming to. So what I enjoy has even expanded ... The type of music. I wasn't into jazz much, but now there are jazz shows that we’ve come to also.”
The variety offered by the Palladium has genuinely expanded Pat's musical horizons. From country music that she discovered through her grandsons to a Taylor Swift tribute show filled with young fans, Pat embraces all genres with enthusiasm.
“We came to the Swiftie show last year, and it was full of young people, all these young girls with their moms especially,” she recalls with delight. “Even not knowing the songs,” she loved seeing the energy and joy of the young audience members in their formal dresses. Hence, the Bisharas are planning to see the same show again in 2026.
The influence of the arts extends well beyond the theater walls. At home, Pat keeps music playing constantly – through Spotify, her iPhone or television. This musical backdrop has become part of her daily therapy, keeping her brain engaged and her spirits lifted.
“If you come to our home unannounced, you may find the walls are shaking because Pat is enjoying the music on high volume,” Rafik says.
Advocacy through experience
The Bisharas have become advocates for early diagnosis and comprehensive treatment of dementia. They speak at churches and medical conferences, sharing their experience with both medicine and the healing power of the arts.
“It’s very important, if you feel that you have any memory issues, to get diagnosed,” Pat says, noting that new treatments work best with early intervention.
Rafik maintains a collection of materials – available to borrow on request – that traces the couple’s experiences with Alzheimer’s advocacy and the activities that have been helpful to them. Their approach emphasizes what he calls “DDT: detect, diagnose and treat,” with early treatment encompassing medication, love, prayers, music and art.
The Bisharas’ 57-year marriage has adapted to new challenges. Pat has learned to interrupt conversations when thoughts arise, knowing she'll forget them otherwise. “If I don't interrupt, I'll forget,” she explains.
Rafik has learned patience, understanding that “Pat of today is not Pat of 10 years ago ... she’s Pat plus Alzheimer's.”
Recent incidents illustrate daily realities – Pat forgetting drink orders between kitchen and family room, or crying because she couldn’t figure out how to start the garbage disposal. Yet the couple faces these moments with humor. When speaking once to a group, Pat brought notes, prompting Rafik to ask why. Her response brought laughter: “Do you realize I have Alzheimer’s?”
The power of hope
Perhaps most remarkably, Pat and Rafik approach their situation with infectious optimism.
“If I would think about having Alzheimer's every day, it would probably depress me,” Pat explains. “So I just try to go about the day and not think about how long this is going to last.”
She continues to drive short distances, such as to the grocery store, play bridge, attend church, take communion to fellow parishioners, travel and make memories with their three daughters, their husbands and 11 grandchildren. Performances at Allied Solutions Center are a key element in this comprehensive approach to maintaining quality of life.
Asked about their message to other families facing similar challenges, their prescription is clear: early detection, diagnosis, treatment and maintaining hope. As Rafik beautifully captures their philosophy: “No life without hope, and no hope without life.”
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