Music and Dementia : Perspectives on Research and Implementation

Providing a range of perspectives from music practitioners, researchers, and people with lived experience of dementia, this comprehensive volume offers the latest research into music for people with dementia.

Amidst growing concern over public health resourcing and an aging population, the book explores how the familiar tool of music has been used to ameliorate dementia symptoms and improve quality of life, presenting insights from music therapy, neurology, and the practice of delivering and evaluating music interventions. Written by leading international researchers in the field, the chapters look at key frameworks and current science to explore a range of settings, such as the impact of music in care homes and hospitals, community singing initiatives, and in-home environments, as well as providing up-to-date research. The chapters take a novel approach, guided by the experiences of music practitioners, scientists, and researchers.

Anchoring scientific knowledge on music and the brain in relation to dementia and cognitive decline to current practice, the book will appeal to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students in the fields of gerontology and aging, dementia care, and music therapy. Practitioners, therapists, and healthcare professionals involved with music and older people, as well as music for those with dementia, may also benefit from the volume.

Becky Dowson is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research, UK, and a music therapist at Chiltern Music Therapy.

Justine Schneider is Emerita Professor of Mental Health and Social Care at the School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham, UK.