Music makes a difference

WITH a rapidly ageing population and up to 50,000 dementia cases being missed during lockdown, there’s mounting concern and conversation around dementia in the UK. In this climate, quality and tailored dementia care is more pivotal than ever to maintain quality of life.

As England’s largest not-for-profit provider of care for older people, every day we see first-hand how music transforms our residents’ wellbeing. Our latest dementia music therapy project, launched in collaboration with Anglia Ruskin University’s Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research, with funding from The Utley Foundation, aims to improve outcomes for our residents living with dementia through the transformative power of music and enrich the care we provide to residents.

Anchor is one of the first care home providers to implement music therapy sessions into its dementia care pathway. However, 78% of the public are calling for wider access to dementia music therapy, it’s encouraging to see its importance being recognised. Now is the time for action.

Anchor is calling on the Government to commit to implementing music therapy more widely in dementia care policies and pathways in its upcoming Dementia Care White Paper.

It must also ensure information and resources are available to everyone living with dementia following their diagnosis.

ASA JOHNSON, Dementia Services Improvement Manager at Anchor, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of care and housing for people in later life