BBC Music Memories is a new site with over 1,800 songs, including music from every decade of the last century, TV and radio theme songs and classical pieces designed to trigger memories in people with dementia.
As we covered here, research has found listening to familiar songs activates areas of the brain related to attention, language and visual memory – and creating a personalised playlist is shown to improve the mood of people with dementia.
The site can be accessed on a computer, tablet or smartphone – simply browse by decade and genre to create a playlist – and while it’s UK-based, many of the songs would be familiar to us here.
The playlists can also be shared – along with details about the participant’s age, gender and place of birth – so carers can see which songs might help others from a similar background.
We think it’s a great tool. Take a look at the site here.
National Dementia Helpline 1800 100 500
