Music for Dementia is a national campaign to bring music into the ears and lives of people living with dementia. The evidence confirms that music is transformative for people living with dementia, but not everyone has access to it, on a regular basis, in the ways they want to experience it, and this has to change.
We all have a relationship with music. You know more than most that it’s in our hearts and minds and provides the soundtracks to our lives – it’s you who is responsible for these songs and pieces of music that make up our musical identities and add colour to our lives.
How we are all affected by dementia
Over the past year, we’ve witnessed the devastation that Covid has caused for people living with dementia, further exacerbating the irreversible effects of the condition.
It’s estimated that the number of people living with dementia is set to rise to over 1 million this year and what’s less recognised is that 52% of the UK public – 34.5 million people – have a relationship to dementia – that is, 34.5m people know someone who has been diagnosed with a form of dementia. 1 in 3 people born in the UK this year will develop dementia in their lifetime.
24.6 million people in the UK – 38% of the population have a family member or close friend living with dementia.
This year alone, 225,000 people will develop dementia, that’s one every three minutes or one every song. All of us are affected by dementia.
We don’t have a cure for dementia, and it’s unlikely one is coming any time soon, but more than ever, as seen during the pandemic, we have at our fingertips the power of music to help improve the quality of life for people living with dementia and their carers.
You can help
Your music, your songs, your lyrics, your creativity and the voices with which you speak with through your music change people’s lives. We are at a moment in time where we have a real opportunity to work together through music to impact on millions of people’s lives in a positive way.
Now is the time to be creating a movement to get things done around music and people that will make a lasting and meaningful difference to people’s lives and your role in that is vital.
We would like you to join us:
- Sign up to becoming a Music for Dementia Champion
- Tell the world you’ve become a Champion
Make a video pledging your support and upload it to social media and use #musicfordementia #Music4DementiaChamp
Encourage fellow songwriters, composers and artists to join you in becoming a champion by signposting them to the website.
- Provide a quote
Your words matter and providing a quote for us to use on our website will show to people that this matters to you and people across the music world and if it matters to you, it should matter to them too.
- Support Music for Dementia’s campaigning
- Share your video with us via info@musicfordementia.org.uk or WeTransfer so we can include it in our campaigning work
- Re-share our social posts
- Tell us if you would like to be involved in media activity around the campaign
Grace Meadows, Programme Director at Music for Dementia
