Familiar tunes helped mum the most

OVER the years of her mother’s dementia journey, Sally Magnusson discovered almost by accident that music was the thing that helped her mum and the family most.

“Listening to favourite and familiar tunes gave my mother back her words – it could raise a smile, could calm her mood,” she explains. “It gave her back her sense of self.”

Sally set up Playlist for Life following Mamie’s death. The charity has grown to become a driving force in the quest to support people with dementia and their families.

Sarah Metcalfe, chief executive of the charity, says: “Dementia care requires proper investment.

“We also need new ideas and creative solutions, which help us see the person not the condition and provide the care and human connection people with dementia need. All over the country, personal playlists are starting to help make this happen.

“Music is neurologically special – which is why it is uniquely powerful for people with dementia, creating joy and connection in the moment for them and those who love and care for them.”

Sarah adds: “Music should be at the heart of Scotland’s dementia strategy. In the words of the umbrella campaign Music For Dementia 2020, music needs to be seen as a necessity, not a nicety.”

Playlist for Life wants every person with dementia to have a playlist and everyone who loves or cares for them to know how to use it.

“Playlist for Life has calculated that all this could be delivered in Scotland for less than one million pounds in the first year, and less than £250,000 a year for future years.

“That’s a drop in the ocean of the health budget but a way of embedding music into the health and care systems with far-reaching and positive consequences, for all those affected by dementia.”