Did you know that 60% of people receiving care at home are living with dementia?  Source: Carter, D (2015) Dementia and Homecare: Driving Quality and Innovation by the UK Homecare Association

We’re delighted to be working with Home Instead Wandsworth who have commissioned training from us to inspire their caregivers to explore the ways they might use music when supporting people living with dementia in their own homes.

Music is not just an enjoyable past time. Research has shown it can significantly improve and support the mood, alertness and engagement of people with dementia; it can reduce the use of medication, as well as helping to manage and reduce agitation, isolation, depression and anxiety, overall supporting a better quality of life.

As well as this, music accesses different parts of the brain to language, so music can be used to communicate or engage with someone who has been diagnosed with dementia, even if they no longer speak or respond to other people’s words. 

We’re looking forward to exploring these benefits with the Home Instead Wandsworth team later this month, when we get together to discuss the aspects of dementia care which can prove challenging and where music might serve as an additional tool to enrich the person-centred care they provide. 

If you’d like to find out more about the role music could play in the care you provide for someone living with dementia, please get in touch.