{"id":2681,"date":"2018-09-29T09:40:39","date_gmt":"2018-09-29T09:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/bbc-music-website-offers-dementia-lifeline\/"},"modified":"2018-09-29T09:40:39","modified_gmt":"2018-09-29T09:40:39","slug":"bbc-music-website-offers-dementia-lifeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/bbc-music-website-offers-dementia-lifeline\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC Music website offers dementia lifeline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Music’s ability to soothe the symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s has been known for years.<\/p>\n

Now, a new BBC website aims to help by connecting dementia patients with the songs they love.<\/p>\n

Eventually, it’s hoped the site will build a database of music that’s effective at triggering memories.<\/p>\n

“Music can have such a powerful effect,” said Snow Patrol star Gary Lightbody, whose father suffers from dementia. <\/p>\n

“It fires all sorts of things in the brain much more immediately than anything else can, whether it be pictures or old home movies or conversations. <\/p>\n

“Music can somehow take you to a place of your youth, or an important part of your life you may not otherwise have access to.”<\/p>\n

Beyond that, music therapy has been shown to alleviate depression<\/a>, anxiety, hallucinations and mobility problems in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s.<\/p>\n

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Media caption<\/span>How music therapy can help the brain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yet research shows only 5% of care homes in the UK provide good quality music programmes.<\/p>\n

That equates to “30 seconds per week per person with dementia”, according to research from the International Longevity Centre.<\/p>\n

That’s one of the reasons why the charity Playlist for Life has collaborated with the BBC on the Music Memories website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The site – which launched on Friday as part of BBC Music Day<\/a> – allows people to browse more than 1,800 songs, classical works and TV theme tunes from the last 100 years, creating a playlist of personally meaningful music.<\/p>\n

Those playlists can then be shared – along with some basic information about the user’s age, gender and place of birth – allowing carers to identify songs that could help others with a similar background.<\/p>\n

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\n TV themes, such as The Wombles, can have just as powerful an effect on memory as hit songs
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“The example we often give is that there’s a famous Scottish lullaby called Ally Bally Bee<\/a>,” said Sarah Metcalfe from Playlist for Life.<\/p>\n

“Most people in Glasgow have it on their playlist because it takes them back to their mum singing to them and feeling safe and loved. <\/p>\n

“But if you’re Glaswegian and you end up in a care home in Reading, the chances are nobody knows Ally Bally Bee. They’ve never even heard of it. <\/p>\n

“And if we can begin to connect up what people like in different parts of the country, we can actually begin to help reach people.”<\/p>\n

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Other BBC Music Day highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n