MP3 music may aid people with dementia

Community music project gives hope to Tayside families

People living with dementia are being reconnected with their memories through music.

DD8 Music in Kirriemuir is working with the Beech Hill House Dementia Unit in Forfar on a scheme called Playlist for Life

The Playlist for Life charity, founded by Sally Magnusson, aims to make it possible for every person with dementia to have access to a playlist of music from their past which means something delivered via an iPod.

There is mounting evidence that if people with dementia can listen to music in which their past experience and memories are embedded, it can improve their present mood and their ability to understand.

A growing number of Scottish health boards and care homes across the UK are now working with the scheme.

Graham Galloway of DD8 Music said: “We are always trying to get involved in community projects.

“Our chairperson Katie Reid’s aunt works at Beech Hill House, and we asked her if she might be interested in DD8 getting involved in something.

“The Playlist for Life charity seemed like a perfect combination. I have seen first hand in my own family how devastating dementia can be and anything that can help people living with it, and their carers, must be worth looking at.”

The DD8 Music Youth group will help get playlists on to MP3 players, which have been supplied by Beech Hill House.

However, they say they need micro SD cards. If you have a 2gb or above micro SD card you no longer need, they would love you to drop it off at their studio at 29 Bellies Brae, Kirriemuir.”

TV presenter Sally Magnusson listens to her iPod with Harry Massie from Edinburgh. There is growing evidence that listening to favourite songs from the past can improve the mood of people with dementia and help their ability to understand.