Events for People Living with Dementia

We are very pleased to be able to put on at least two events for people living with dementia and their carers.  We are working with Burgess Hill District Lions Club and the events have been sponsored by Lyn and Tim Radmall from Burgess Hill Family Funeral Services.

The events are being held at St Andrew's Church, Junction Road, Burgess Hill on Thursday 24 August and Thursday 17 November 2017 from 2.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. 

These events are free and we are very grateful to Tesco Burgess Hill for their support with the refereshments.

To book please call Julie Smyth on 01444 235912 or 07759 698831 or use the contact form below.

From the Age UK Website - 

As populations of developed nations age, so the number of cases of dementia increases. As a way of helping care for and support people with dementia, music has been shown to often have a dramatic effect.

Whether it’s 60s soul, operatic arias or songs from the shows, music can soothe, stimulate and bring to mind long-forgotten memories. Nick Smurthwaite investigates...

Dementia is rapidly becoming the health and social care challenge of the 21st century. Numbers affected are set to soar because of an expanding older population.

The total number of people with dementia in the UK is predicted to be in excess of 1m by 2021. So, while there are no long-term cures, ways of alleviating symptoms are becoming more available and accessible.

The power of music

The power of music, especially singing, to unlock memories and kickstart the grey matter is an increasingly key feature of dementia care. It seems to reach parts of the damaged brain in ways other forms of communication cannot.

'We tend to remain contactable as musical beings on some level right up to the very end of life,' says Professor Paul Robertson, a concert violinist and academic who has made a study of music in dementia care.

'We know that the auditory system of the brain is the first to fully function at 16 weeks, which means that you are musically receptive long before anything else. So it’s a case of first in, last out when it comes to a dementia-type breakdown of memory.'

Many music students throughout the UK, as well as more experienced musicians, now regard care home visits as part of their learning experience. As well as being enormously beneficial to those with various forms of dementia and their carers, they can also be helpful and rewarding for the musicians themselves.