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 "One of the biggest challenges we have in our society is that so
many people are living longer and developing dementia later in
life," said Andy Lowndes, deputy chair of the Playlist for Life
charity in Glasgow, Scotland. The charity has so far trained 4,650
health care staff to use music to treat dementia, and it estimates
that its volunteers have reached more than 21,000 people since 2015.
Given the lack of drugs for treating dementia, "our big interest in
non-pharmaceutical approaches." Lowndes told Reuters Health by phone
Through its Music Detective program, the Playlist for Life charity
encourages families to speak to their relatives to find out which
pieces of music trigger happy memories for them. Ideally, the
playlists would be made before family members develop dementia.
A recent article in The Lancet Neurology describes a presentation
earlier this year by Lowndes and University of Edinburgh
psychiatrist Dr. Tom Russ at the Edinburgh Science Festival.
Founded in 2013, Playlist for Life was established by Scottish
broadcaster Sally Magnusson, Lowndes explained in the presentation.
When her mother developed dementia, Magnusson found that playing
familiar music sparked memories and brought joy, so she created the
charity to share the technique with others.
"Although her mother had almost lost the ability to use words,
whenever Sally would sing the soundtrack of her life, her mother
would still be able to sing the song from start to finish and
harmonize beautifully," Lowndes said. "Fragments of memories were
connected to those personally meaningful songs."
Playlist for Life volunteers aren't certified music therapists, but
they adhere to the 5th edition of the Gerdner protocol developed at
Stanford University, according to the article, and they suggest
timing the sessions 30 minutes before difficult activities, such as
bathing.
To create a playlist, Lowndes recommends three steps.
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First, check the top songs when the person was between ages the ages
of 10 and 30, when many milestone memories are created. Playlist for
Life created "100 Years: A Century of Song," which lists the 100
most popular songs each year between 1915-2015. (http://bit.ly/2WZ8DMD)
Second, add "inheritance" tracks that stem from childhood memories
or were contributed by best friends or former girlfriends or
boyfriends.
"One of the songs on my playlist comes from My Fair Lady, which my
father would put on every Sunday to see who would wash the dishes to
not listen to the music," Lowndes said with a chuckle.
Third, add "identity" tracks that connect with heritage, nationality
and ethnicity. For instance, Lowndes is from Glasgow and wants to
remember that heritage, so he added songs he heard as a child while
attending church.
"People with dementia have emotions that are alive and can be
retrieved, even in late stages, which can counteract the feeling
that dementia destroys personality and erases what makes an
individual unique," said Antonio Cherubini of the National Institute
of Rest and Care for the Elderly in Ancona, Italy. Cherubini wasn't
involved with the article in Lancet Neurology.
"The majority of patients develop behavioral disturbances, not only
agitation and challenging behaviors, but also apathy and
depression," Cherubini told Reuters Health by email. "Drugs aren't
very effective at treating these and have side effects, so non-drug
therapies that are effective should be evaluated and implemented."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2X1xaRc Lancet Neurology, online June 9, 2019.
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