Music Therapy in Dementia Care at Home Instead Wandsworth
Discover the positive impact of music in caregiving for adults with dementia, with insights from Home Instead Wandsworth's collaboration with Music as Therapy International.
Bringing music to our dementia care at Home Instead Wandsworth
At Home Instead Wandsworth, we are always striving to maintain our excellent levels of care, all of our Care Professionals are equipped with specialist training at Home Instead for dementia care. In addition we often see the positive effect of melodies and music to many of our clients who live with dementia, both during home visits and at our local groups.
Our collaboration with registered charity Music as Therapy has allowed us to explore this further. Introduced to us by a client’s daughter, Elsa, the organisation kindly provided our team with the chance to take part in workshops and contribute to Elsa’s development of “Music Helps (UK)”, an upcoming online course for caregivers of people living with dementia.
This opportunity to share positive experiences of music in caring, and to inspire and equip our team to bring music into the care they provide – as and when appropriate – was a wonderful way to add more techniques and experience to our Care Professionals’ approach to caregiving.
How can music help those living with dementia?
Music has an uncanny ability to transport us to different times and places, reliving memories and emotions. For older adults, particularly those experiencing dementia, music can become a bridge to the past. Listening to familiar tunes can evoke memories and connections that the present can obscure, offering moments of clarity and joy.
Dementia UK affirms the benefits of music for individuals with dementia, from facilitating emotional expression to supporting social interaction and mitigating distress or anxiety. “Listening to or engaging in music – for example, by singing, dancing or playing instruments – can help people with dementia develop and maintain relationships with others and improve their wellbeing”. Dementia UK
Integrating music into home care visits
Together with Music as Therapy, we held tailored workshops for our Care Professionals who visit our clients in their own homes, focusing on bringing older favourite tunes into the homes of our clients living with dementia. These interactive sessions equipped our professionals with the skills and confidence to comfortably ask about music that clients have enjoyed, and have the confidence to bring this into their care visits with singing, dancing, radio and more. One month after the workshops, our Care Professionals returned with heartwarming stories. They revealed how integrating music for example with a singalong, had provided a chance for connection and engagement.
We are excited to hear more about the pilot of the Music Helps (UK) online course, which promises to give caregivers tools to use music as a way to support people living with dementia. We are deeply grateful to Elsa, the daughter of our client, for introducing us to Music as Therapy International. Thank you, Elsa, for helping us make a difference in the lives of our clients.
Join us in making a difference
Join Home Instead in West Dulwich, Balham, and Denmark Hill at our local regular dementia-friendly support groups. Unwind, socialise, and find support in your community.our memory cafes harmonise the melody of companionship, and music therapy can also accompany a cup of tea and a biscuit.
In addition to Home Instead’s award winning training to deliver exceptional dementia care, our Care Professionals are now equipped with deeper knowledge and techniques to incorporate music to caring for those who enjoy it, making a difference to someone’s home care visit, someone’s day and to someone’s life. We aim to ensure every note of care resonates with each individual client, delivering personalised relationship-led care at home.
Learn more about our CQC outstanding home care services in and around Wandsworth and South London by calling us on 0208 022 5240.