
Forgetfulness, Feelings and Farnarkling: Reflections On Aged Care And How You Can Make A Difference
A collection of real people’s stories from author Anne Kelly’s almost 30 years’ of experience working in aged and dementia care
A program which uses personalised music playlists to help individuals living with dementia, chronic cognitive and physical impairments to reconnect with family, friends and carers.
The founding mission to help people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias reconnect with the world has since evolved as research and experience shows that access to personalised musical favourites benefits most people. It is now one of the most adopted, non-pharmacological interventions improving the lives of people with Parkinson’s, depression, behavioural challenges and pain.
Australian Director, Melanie Karajas is helping organisations discover the benefits of the program and supporting those already delivering it to those in their care.
“Nothing has moved me to action like the ‘Henry’ clip from Alive Inside. His reaction after hearing his favourite music was incredible, like someone switched the lights on after years in the dark. Guiding organisations in Australia to create and sustain successful Music & Memory programs is truly my hearts’ work. The benefit it brings not only to participants, but also staff and families is game-changing. With so much data now proving the impact of personalised music, we can no longer ask the question ‘does this work?’. The question is now ‘when are we putting it in place?’ I’d love to help navigate that.”
Australian organisations will now have access to a substantially increased array of training, resources and support options via the online Care Community:
Music & Memory International: https://musicandmemory.org
A collection of real people’s stories from author Anne Kelly’s almost 30 years’ of experience working in aged and dementia care
A short film produced by filmmaker Andrew Ferguson as part of Celebrate Ageing’ s Letters of Love and Dementia Campaign