Mindfully Using Music with Dementia, and 'A Playlist for Life.'
Dementia Action Week (UK) 2025. Engaging, Creating and Empowering with Music, an evidence-based tool in Dementia.
Hello, Dear Reader! Welcome to our new Carer Mentor community members!
I’m Victoria. You can read why I’m publishing Carer Mentor here: Who Started Carer Mentor and Why?
This Dementia Action Week Campaign (19-25 May), led by the Alzheimer’s Society (UK), focuses on raising awareness of symptoms and promoting early diagnosis of Dementia.
The "Empowering People Living With Dementia" article introduced The Brain Charity and its ‘Music Makes Us!’ videos, which combine exercise and speech therapy with engaging dance moves and karaoke.
This article continues the theme of Dementia and music, exploring how to engage, encourage, and empower loved ones with Dementia.
I discovered the work of many people who are leveraging their skills and knowledge, not just to connect with Dementia sufferers, but to engage, entertain and create something meaningful together—focusing on the person, not the Dementia.
Today’s offering:
Engaging with music is a therapeutic and empowering experience. Introduction to
: Sage Stream, the Ageing Experience and the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function. I recommend exploring Sage Stream for at-home concerts and an interactive music experience.Creating music. Introduction to
and his team at the charity T.I.M.E. (Together In Musical Expression). They make music accessible to everyone, ‘breaking down barriers and bringing people of all ages and abilities together to experiment, grow, and have fun through music.’1. The video is one example that showcases how they engaged with a dementia community.Creating and re-accessing our most meaningful music memories. Introduction to the charity Playlist for Life, founded by writer and broadcaster Sally Magnusson, in 2013.
Reframing music as a tool for memories and wellbeing.
Do you have any experience you’d like to share about Dementia and Music?
Or, are you thinking about creating a playlist of personal ‘Music cues’ ?
Do you have a soundtrack of your life moments?
Let me know by June 1st. I’d love to include more stories and experiences in the Dementia and Music Anthology. This collaboration is open with no deadline. The first update is scheduled for the second week of June.
Engaging with music is a therapeutic and empowering experience.
Anthony Cirillo: Sage Stream, the Ageing Experience and the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function
I was intrigued and inspired by what I discovered when I connected with Anthony:
Sage Stream (sagestream.live) is a live-stream, real-time, video music network that provides live music concerts for older adults (and their caregivers) in all settings. Music from all genres and time-frames are available from more than 100 artists from around the world. Artists like Ben Mauro, guitarist for Cher and Lionel Richie; Ines Delgado, a violinist with the Royal Philharmonic; and other artists who have supported or been on stage with major superstars. Sage Stream was founded to help relieve social isolation, ease caregiver burden, and provide senior living with an affordable music service. Sage Stream is ideal as a back-pocket solution for senior living should entertainers cancel; during a health or natural incident; for hard-to-fill hours and weekends.
Founder
is a health and aging expert and a lifelong musician. While working in hospital marketing and gigging full time at night, he left the nightclub scene and fell into singing for seniors, some 3,000+ performances ago. That changed his hospital career into one focused on aging. Currently, in addition to Sage Stream, Anthony does keynote speaking in the industry; regular TV spots in Charlotte; as well as writing for numerous publications. He also has products for caregivers, all of which can be found at theagingexperience.com.
Anthony is also a board member of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function as well as a member of the Nationwide Financial / National Council on Aging Health and Wellness Roundtable and the Bank of America Elder Care Policy Roundtable.
From the video (at Timestamp 2.28): Harry Ballan (Chairman of the Board at IMNF) says
“The biggest moments that you create for people—when you say to someone, choose a musical instrument, make music with it, and you have people and they improvise, and they start to interact with each other— it's the first experience of agency, sometimes in months or longer.”
Creating music: breaking down barriers and bringing people of all ages and abilities together to experiment, grow, and have fun through music
I recommend reading ’s article: “At 99, She Wrote Her First Song Making music accessible – at any age, for any ability.”
The article highlights the work of his charity T.I.M.E. (Together In Musical Expression); He and his team engaged with Dementia sufferers at Peaceful Place to create a song, make music, and have fun!
Watch the video ‘Holding Onto Those Memories’ below
Peaceful Place is an activities service empowering individuals diagnosed with a Dementia to live their best lives - Charlotte Curran (CEO Peaceful Place)
For many people living with dementia, it’s not just about music as therapy - it’s about being seen, being heard, and being creative. - Marc Barnacle (Founder, Director and Music Instructor at T.I.M.E.)
Creating and re-accessing our most meaningful music memories
The charity ‘A Playlist for Life’
Playlist for Life: The website and the resources
The resources page is full of free materials to help you at each stage of your playlist journey, whether you’re making a personalised playlist for yourself or helping someone to make theirs.
Watch the 2-minute video below to give you an introduction.
These are freely available resources that anyone can use!
The beautiful story of why Playlist for Life was founded
Playlist for Life is a music and dementia charity. The charity was founded in 2013 by writer and broadcaster Sally Magnusson after the death of her mother, Mamie, who had dementia. Our vision is simple: we want everyone with dementia to have a unique, personalised playlist and everyone who loves or cares for them to know how to use it.
Our vision is simple: we want everyone with dementia to have a unique, personal playlist and everyone who loves or cares for them to know how to use it.
Playlist for Life the YouTube Channel
The charity’s website: A playlist of personally meaningful music can help people living with dementia
September 19, 2025 is National Playlist Day in the UK, led by the charity Playlist for Life.
Reframing music as a tool for memories and wellbeing.
Can we …
be more mindful about using music to motivate ourselves for specific types of tasks each day?
enrich dementia care with personalised music for daily activities?
While music is part of my DNA I hadn’t thought deeply about how I could PROactively use playlists, or use them with an intentional purpose.
I have a playlist I switch on when I’m doing boring tasks. It’s an automatic action to make the task more pleasant. In my mind it’s a reflex. I hadn’t thought about using it to motivate me, to trigger an action or to help me switch an emotion by music-memory-association.
Now, I’m thinking more about how I use music as cues for routine tasks. Could this help with my memory and be a cognitive support in the future?!?
Neuro-plasticity is an amazing concept and who knows the potential of what we can do later, if we pre-program our brains with familiar music now!
Can we be more intentional, mindful about how we use music?
The opening bars of Alan Silvestri’s Suite from Forest Gump feels like an unfurling. It’s perfect for my ‘creative’ playlist.
Unlike the days of caring for my father, which were unpredictable and fraught I now have periods of time to read, research and write. The first thing I do is play this piece….take a deep breath, and exhale. Breathing out any tension, to inhale new ideas.
The music and film takes me back to more carefree younger days.
It’s no wonder then, that when I hear this piece randomly, on the radio I can feel myself relax
So now, I’m exploring how I can mindfully use other songs and classical pieces. Music memory associations feels like it could be a powerful and simple tool.
How will you be cultivating your music experiences moving forward?
Let me know in the comments below.
Please remember to ‘❤️’ LIKE the article to guide others to these resources.
Taken from the charity’s website:
Together In Musical Expression
Making music accessible and inclusive
T.I.M.E. is founded on the belief that music is for everyone. We’re an Essex-based charity devoted to breaking down barriers and bringing people of all ages and abilities together to experiment, grow, and have fun through music. Our events are designed to be accessible and inclusive to people with additional needs, mental health challenges, and dementia. All are welcome, and no previous music knowledge is required.
We don’t believe in rules or limits — music is for anytime, anywhere, and anyone. Our ever-evolving collection of musical experiences includes therapeutic and sensory-based relaxation sessions, songwriting workshops, instrument tuition, and other forms of creative and physical expression. We’ve brought these fun, free-flowing creative experiences to educational institutions, care facilities, recovery and treatment centers, and more.
Our work is made possible through charitable contributions; donations are welcome and appreciated. T.I.M.E. is also supported through private music sessions that we offer as a separate service. Get in touch to book your session!
Music is so therapeutic and healing! While my mom isn't diagnosed with dementia, she does have lapses in memory and often forgets what we recently told her.
I bought her a small CD player so she can play 50's music that reminds her of when she and my dad used to dance. It brings out memories from a happy time in her life and gets her moving.