“I just love to show off”: the effects of a professional participatory music programme on people with dementia and their carers
Abstract
Music as a form of therapy for people with dementia is a unique and increasingly common
intervention, because musical memory tends to remain preserved from the effects of
dementia. Recently, arts organisations have developed programming for people with dementia
and their carers, and Scottish Opera appears to be the first music organisation to do so in the
form of a programme called Memory Spinners. However, little research has been conducted
on an ongoing participatory music programme for people with dementia and their carers
hosted by a professional arts organisation. This qualitative case study, based on semistructured
interviews with four people with dementia and carer couples, explores the ways
participants are affected by participating in Memory Spinners, from their perspectives. A
thematic analysis of the data uncovered four interrelated themes. The first discusses effects
regarding sociality and relationships. However, it was discovered that those with cognitive
impairments need an activity, rather than socialisation alone. The second discusses how
music was found to be the activity of most value to participants, because the relationship of
dementia with musical memory makes it accessible to all. The third discusses how the
programme’s professional environment facilitated artistic quality and continued learning. This
environment, unrelated to healthcare, also facilitated an environment of equality. Furthermore,
the professionalism presented a structure involving working towards a performance, provoking
the most influential theme that discusses resulting feelings of achievement, confidence and
agency in participants. Ultimately, the effects most important to participants are related to their
own identity and personhood, provoking more research that goes beyond observing changes
in dementia symptoms. While programmes like Memory Spinners cannot change the reality of
those living with dementia, this study finds that they can have positive effects on participants.