Music helping to recall memories
One in three people born in the UK in 2017 are expected to die from the progressive and incurable brain disease dementia. But, as Mark Smith explains, innovative work is being carried out in Wales to help this group of people...
Dementia has been described as a cruel disease which robs people of their memories. Even close family members, who patients may have known all their lives, can become strangers to them.
But there is growing research to suggest that personally meaningful music has the potential to ease dementia symptoms, including anxiety, agitation and depression.
So a charity for older people is training up “music detectives” to help people living with dementia reconnect with their identities using autobiographical playlists.
The Abbeyfield Society is training more than 200 members of their care staff and volunteers to piece together music, songs, hymns and theme tunes that have significant meaning for people living with the brain disease.
They claim the music helps to recall memories and abilities thought lost, and reduce the need for medication.
April Dobson, head of dementia and innovation at Abbeyfield, said: “Therapeutic benefits of music are already well documented, and there is growing evidence that personally meaningful music can amplify those effects.
“We can all think of music that gives us ‘that flashback feeling’ and transports us back to another time, person or place in our lives.
“That music can become a lifeline if you develop dementia because it is deeply attached to your memories and emotions. It can soothe, calm and comfort and also make us feel alive.
“That’s exactly the experience we want to be able to provide for people living with us who have dementia.”
Mrs Dobson said: “It can be difficult piecing together songs which are significant to someone with dementia.
“They may not be able to speak or remember the songs that have left an audial footprint on their lives. That’s why we are training up staff and volunteers to become music detectives looking for clues and identifying music that triggers autobiographical memory and instils a sense of identity and belonging for people with dementia.”
The Abbeyfield Making Music project uses tools and training developed by registered charity Playlist for Life, who are working to ensure everyone with dementia has access to a personal playlist to make life easier and happier for them and their carers.
The project is being supported by The People’s Postcode Trust, a grantgiving charity funded entirely by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Playlist for Life chief executive Sarah Metcalfe said: “Abbeyfield is the first care group to deliver playlists into every one of their homes in this strategic way. It is really exciting to be working with them as they lead the way on personal music for dementia.
“Music is neurologically special because it stimulates so many parts of the brain at once. Even if dementia has damaged one part of the brain it can still reach those other parts almost as if it gets ‘in through the back door’ to access memories and abilities that had been thought lost.”
The results vary from person to person. Sometimes subtle but sometimes almost magical.
DPeople who cannot speak may start to sing, people who cannot walk, can dance.
“We teach people to become music detectives, giving them skills and tips about how to find the music that is personally meaningful to an individual. Were they part of a choir? Is there old sheet music about? Do relatives or friends remember them enjoying a particular film or going to the cinema?
“Then we teach people caring for people with dementia how to incorporate the playlists they have built into care plans. Scheduling the music to harness its effects and help people do the things they may find difficult, like eating or bathing. Music helps to make people more grounded in their own sense of self.
“It can help manage their mood so they have better visits with their family – it’s a way of reminding them who people are. It builds better connections between care home staff and the people they are caring for.
“Carers learn so much more about an individual just by looking at the person. They learn so much about them and their life story, which is enhanced by the cognitive benefits of music. The two just come together.”
Anita Pascoe is an activities co-ordinator at Abbeyfield, Stow Park, in Newport, Gwent, which is set to become the first certified Playlist care home in the UK.
She said: “I believe people haven’t lost their memories – they just get locked away. The music training helps bring their memories to the fore, which can be very emotional. It makes you laugh – and it can make you cry.
“I was sceptical about the project at first, but I have seen the difference it can make. Many of the people living with us have very complex needs, but the music can help on so many levels. It helps relax them, helping at meal times and bathing – and it does unlock their memories, which is lovely for their families. To see couples who have been so devoted to each other being brought together by music which connects them brings a tear to your eye. It is lovely.”
Of the music training, Anita said: “It is like being a detective, looking for clues and getting the family and their friends on board. It’s not enough to say someone liked Elvis or Johnny Cash.
“It’s about going back further: Finding out the songs they would sing in their courting days, or that you could remember them singing before their memory shut down.”