Pioneering music therapy for dementia patients developed in East Lancashire

12:09pm Friday 10th August 2012 in News By Catherine Pye, Health reporter

DEMENTIA carers are being encouraged to whistle while they work as part of a new scheme to be launched in East Lancashire.

Burnley-based Crossroads Care East Lancashire are looking for about 20 families who want to take part in a trial of a technique called Music Therapy Care Giving (MTC).

The idea, which originated in Sweden, is that carers of dementia patients will be taught to sing while they carry out their day-to-day jobs, with the hope that the patient will join in too.

John Rattigan, trustee of Crossroads Care East Lancashire, is leading the scheme. He said: Research has found that this process leads to patients being more compliant, there is a reduction in medication, and people are being discharged from hospitals.

A grant from the National Gardens Scheme is funding the project, which will see volunteers trained in the technique. They will then go into peoples homes to pass on their skills to a carer.

Mr Rattigan said: For example, if I was looking after my wife at home, a volunteer from Crossroads would come round once a week to show me how to use singing.

They would discuss with me what kind of music my wife likes, from which era, and they would make sure that the songs chosen are ones that my wife is familiar with.

I, as a carer, would then start to sing as I carried out tasks like getting my wife dressed, or preparing food. The hope is that the patient will begin to join in with words and a melody they are familiar with.

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Pioneering music therapy for dementia patients developed in East Lancashire