BBC launch new Dementia friendly music site

The BBC has recently launched a new website BBC Music Memories aimed at reconnecting people living with Dementia with their past and most powerful memories. If you care for someone with Dementia, or simply want to rekindle great memories for someone you love, check it out now – you simply choose 1 of 3 themes and the decade, and away you go.

Designed in partnership with Playlist For Life,  the website uses music to help people with dementia reconnect with their most powerful memories.

‘Memory bump’

Evidence shows that music can help people with dementia to feel and live better. Memories from teenage years can often be the most powerful, so why not start by looking for music from that time and begin to create a music playlist for someone you care for?

A psychological phenomenon known as the “memory bump” means the music we hear between the ages of 10 and 30, when we become independent, carries more emotional resonance than any other.

“So if you’ve got a relative with dementia, even if they can’t communicate with you any more, you can think back to when they would have been 10 to 30 years old, and use that as a key to unlock the kinds of music they might really enjoy, and it might have a lot of benefits for them,” said Sally Bowell from the International Longevity Centre.

The benefits of music therapy in addressing dementia are still being explored, but there have already been some powerful results. A music programme designed by Playlist For Life at a care home Glasgow has led to a 60% reduction in the use of antipsychotic medication.

Watch the film below to see why music is so powerful for people living with dementia.