Music for Dignity®
Adults with Dementia, Alzheimer's and other deteriorating illness
About the Programme
Sunbeams Music For Dignity® Projects use Music to help tackle the onset of deteriorating health conditions such as Alzheimer's, Dementia and Parkinson's. Sunbeams Music for Dignity® harnesses the power of music to bring about real and meaningful improvements in the quality of life of adults with deteriorating illnesses. Music is used as a stimulus for memory recall, as a reminiscence tool, to reduce isolation and improve well-being.
Music For Dignity® helps support older people to find new ways to cope, manage life-changing events, transitions and continue to remain a part of their communities irrespective of their health deterioration.
Main Aims of Delivery
To provide a non-verbal form of communication/expression through Music, if all other forms of communication are lost
To bring a group/care home/day centre together and bond them, strengthening bonds between beneficiaries, as well as between them and their carers/support workers/family members, improving relationships and support networks
To bring about greater awareness of surroundings — bringing them into the present
To stimulate and engage people who feel 'cast aside' in society. Show them they are still capable and valued members of society
To help decrease the frequency of agitated behaviours associated with some forms of dementia, and reduce aggression and frustration through positive musical interventions
To promote positive changes in emotion state and reduce loneliness
To encourage gentle movement of limbs, improving flexibility and mobility
To encourage the use of the voice, strengthening lung and breathing capacity
To provide enjoyable, accessible and inclusive sessions, which allow them to develop new skills and thereby increase confidence and self-esteem
To act as a non-pharmaceutical form of pain management