Music for Dementia Issues Call to Action to Music and Tech Industries … Make Music Easy!
Music and tech sectors invited to attend immersive dementia simulator experience so they can understand tech obstacles for people living with dementia and so drive change
Music for Dementia is calling on the UK’s technology and music industries to take action and make music truly accessible for older people and those living with dementia. As the nation marks World Alzheimer’s Month, the campaign seeks to inspire product designers, streaming platforms and record companies to ensure a generation can still access the music that they love and need.
Music: A Lifeline Blocked by the Digital Divide
Last year Music for Dementia surveyed 1,000 family carers of people living with dementia. The results revealed that among older family carers, only 3 in 10 are able to stream music with their loved ones. Likewise, only 3 in 10 spouses of people living with dementia are using playlists. And only 35 per cent of family carers over 65 feel very confident with tech.
Sarah Metcalfe, MD at Music for Dementia says “It’s ironic, as Alanis Morrisette might say. Almost every song ever recorded now available on demand - but the generation who invented modern music struggle to access it.
“It’s not that older people can’t use technology, but they have distinct needs and preferences which make streaming music on phones and laptops particularly hard.
“Many elderly people find their cherished music CDs, cassettes and vinyl are gathering dust in the attic with no hi-fi, ghetto blaster or CD player to play them on. Even newer devices like iPods and MP3s might as well be wax cylinders nowadays. Streaming platforms tend to be designed for individuals, so whilst family members often create playlists, they take the music with them when they leave. Even digital radio, while popular, is cluttered with too many options and not enough simplicity.”
A Challenge to UK Industry
Music for Dementia is inviting the UK’s product designers, streamers, music execs and creatives to join the conversation and engage with the Music Made Easy challenge. The over-65s make up 54 per cent of household spending - £319 billion-a-year (ILC-UK 2018). It’s an audience too big to ignore. Music for Dementia is calling for:
· Product designers to use their expertise in intuitive, tactile tech to serve the needs of older generations.
· Streaming companies to help make music platforms truly inclusive via easy interfaces and devices designed for older eyes and minds
Record companies to release classic albums in dementia-friendly formats and work with designers for innovative solutions.
The Virtual Dementia Simulator
In order to give music and tech teams the chance to experience firsthand the sensory changes and barriers faced by those living with dementia, Music for Dementia is bringing an innovative Virtual Dementia Simulator to London on September 16. Designers and creatives are being invited to experience the short dementia simulation exercise to enhance empathy and understanding and apply new insight to future projects.
Run by Traing2Care, the dementia simulator is a scientifically proven training tool frequently used by many NHS Trusts, care homes, police and ambulance staff. The simulation exercise is being adapted by Music for Dementia to include a music-related task, so participants can experience how challenging it can be to use a digital radio whilst experiencing dementia symptoms.
Music Made Easy – why does it matter?
Music is a powerful tool for people with dementia as it can reduce anxiety, improve mood and communication, stimulate memory and enhance the quality of life. Music works by engaging various brain areas including those for memory, emotion and movement, which are often still functional even when other parts of the brain are damaged.
Personalised music from an individual’s formative years, typically their teens and early twenties, has the most profound therapeutic impact for people living with dementia, as these songs tap into what psychologists call the "reminiscence bump," a period when memories are most emotionally significant. The soundtrack to someone’s youth can unlock preserved memories and emotions, providing moments of comfort and connection that seemed lost forever.
m4dRADIO.com – Music Made Easy for Dementia Care
To help families affected by dementia, Music for Dementia has redesigned its award-winning online radio service, m4dRADIO.com to make it easier to use. It has six era-specific channels spanning the 1940s–1980s enabling people living with dementia to easily access their favourite songs from their younger years. The station is ad and talk-free, 24/7. It has been redesigned for maximum simplicity with a single-screen interface on tablets, integration with screen-free Yoto players (primarily designed for children to operate) and voice activation via Alexa.
Let’s Work Together
“Music isn’t just a nice to have. It’s an amazing tool that carers can use to help ease dementia symptoms, yet technology has made listening to individual music collections harder for older generations. Our call to action is clear: let’s work together to make music easy and ensure the people that need it the most can access it.” Says Music for Dementia’s MD, Sarah Metcalfe.
Singer and Music for Dementia Ambassador Tony Christie adds: “Everyone with dementia should have easy access to music. I'm lucky, I sing almost everyday and music is medicine for me, but what about everyone else? It seems the generation that invented modern music struggle to access it – they’ve been locked out of their collection. We all have a musical soundtrack to our lives that we could be enjoying, but there needs to be access to it in the first place to be able to get any benefits. For this reason, I’m supporting the Music Made Easy campaign from Music for Dementia.”
ENDS
For further media information or to set up interviews please contact Paula Hunter or Sam Jones at Big Bang PR on paula@bigbangpr.co.uk 07739 989915 or sam@bigbangpr.co.uk 07531 625233.
About Music for Dementia: The Music for Dementia campaign is a charitable programme of the Utley Foundation, working to make music an integral part of dementia care. It involves more than 200 organisations from the NHS, care sector, third sector and music sector plus thousands of individual supporters, many with lived experience.
About the Utley Foundation: The Utley Foundation is a private charitable trust established by Neil Utley and Nicky Utley in 2014. The Utley Foundation established the Music for Dementia campaign in 2018 as part of its ambition to ensure music is made an integral part of care for all those living with dementia.