Generations Unite to Help People with Dementia Reconnect with Music

Aged care organisation Amana Living and St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School have teamed up to support the expansion of an innovative music program for people living with dementia.

Last year Amana Living piloted the Tune into Life program which involved creating personalised play-lists for people living with dementia to listen to via iPods. An experienced music therapist was employed to run the program, delivering individual and group music therapy sessions and training Amana Living staff on how to use the playlists effectively.

Now, Amana Living wants to roll out the program to all its aged care centres in Perth and has created the Tune into Life iPod Drive to support the program’s expansion. The local community is being asked to donate pre-loved iPod shuffles or make a financial contribution to help 1,000 people living with dementia to take part in Tune into Life.

St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School is the first Perth organisation to sign-up to the Tune into Life iPod Drive.

Emily Lees Enrichment Manager of Amana Living said: “Music has the power to heal and to bring people together.  For people living with dementia, it is well known that music can stimulate parts of the brain that have been affected by the disease.

“Last year’s Tune into Life pilot showed the positive impact that personalised playlists can have on the life of a person with dementia. The clients who took part in the trial were happier and enjoyed better relationships with our staff as well as their loved ones through listening to music together. We hope everyone gets behind the Tune into Life iPod Drive so more people living with dementia and their families can benefit from the program.”

St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School Principal, Mrs Lynne Thomson, is pleased that the school can partner with Amana Living in the delivery of this worthwhile program for people living with dementia.

“Being an Anglican school, we believe it is important to support the work of Amana Living, an Anglican agency,” says Mrs Thomson.

“We value this opportunity which enables our students to actively help members of our community, whilst also utilising the technology skills they have acquired.

“St Mary’s has two Technology Outreach Champions, Deneale Sanders and Hannah Jackson, whose role requires experience with a range of technologies, a passion for working with Seniors and an interest in encouraging other students to support our local community. The girls assist with the management of our Moline Connect programme and will launch and lead this new drive.”

A 2015 study by the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England, found that music therapy helped improve dementia symptoms and wellbeing.  Carers involved in the project reported beneficial effects, in particular on mood and emotion, as well as communication, memory, agitation, apathy and anxiety.

Amana Living’s Tune into Life program is inspired by the US Music and Memories initiative which has helped thousands of individuals struggling from dementia and other chronic cognitive and physical impairments reconnect with family, friends and caregivers through its personalised digital music program.

Find out about Amana Living. 

Pictured (left to right): Michelle Fitzpatrick (St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School Head of Technology & Enterprise Department), Deneale Sanders,  Hannah Jackson, and Emily Lees (Amana Living Enrichment Manager)

Amana Living is also recruiting volunteers to support the Tune into Life program. If you’re interested in getting involved, contact the Amana Living Volunteers team on 9424 6335 or by emailing volunteers@amanaliving.com.au. 

If you would like to learn more about the Tune info Life program and donate to the iPod Drive, visit www.amanaliving.com.au/tuneintolife