Watch: Sally Magnusson & Playlist for Life visit Carlingwark House

On 19^th June 2015, Community Integrated Care was proud to welcome leaders of the music therapy charity Playlist for Life to Carlingwark House – broadcaster and founder, Sally Magnusson, and its Deputy Chair, Andy Lowndes. At this special event, we shared how residents who live with dementia have benefitted from this person-centred approach to music therapy, and helped Playlist for Life to launch an innovative new online training resource.

Playlist for Life is a unique approach that sees people who live with dementia enjoy listening to person-centred iPod playlists, made up of songs that are personally memorable to them. Research shows that if people who live with dementia are offered regular access to the soundtrack of their lives it can improve their mood, awareness, ability to understand and communicate, and sense of identity.

Carlingwark House is based in Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway. It supports 30 older people, many of whom live with advanced dementia. The home began using Playlist for Life in early 2014 and has seen a significant impact on residents who have been using personal playlists – transforming their health and wellbeing.

Sally and Andy saw first-hand the incredible impact that playlists have had on the people we support, and spoke to relatives who movingly described the difference they feel it has made to their loved ones. 

The visit drew the attention of a host of media – being featured on ITV Borders News and a host of local and national newspapers, helping to raise awareness of the programme. 

Watch a special video from the visit and see Playlist for Life in action.

Carlingwark’s Team leader, Kelly Henderson says, “It was a real honour to welcome Sally and Andy to Carlingwark House. Playlist for Life has made an incredible difference to the lives of the people we support. By developing personalised playlists, we’ve been able to improve the health, happiness and wellbeing of people who live with dementia, no matter how complex their needs are.”

She continues, “When people listen to the songs that are important to them, they light up and reconnect with treasured memories. We’ve had amazing outcomes – from seeing people who normally do not communicate with words suddenly speak, to people eating and drinking better, after listening to their playlists. It meant a lot that we were able to share our use of Playlist with Sally and Andy, and to hear from them how proud they are of our work.”  

Speaking at the event, Sally Magnusson said: “I’ve very much enjoyed my visit to Carlingwark. It is wonderful for me to see how their staff have taken this on – they have introduced Playlists very carefully and thoughtfully, in a person centred way.”

Find out more about Playlist for Life, and their new online training programmes.