Dementia Action Week is a national event that encourages people to take action to improve the lives of people affected by dementia.
One in three of us born in the UK today will go on to develop dementia in our lifetime, and there will be an estimated one million people living with dementia by 2025 making dementia care one of the greatest challenges facing our society.
We all have a role to play in making the UK a dementia-friendly place to live and that’s what Dementia Action Week is all about.
Here at Music 24 we work hard every day to improve the lives of people with dementia and their carers. We are grateful to our funders and supporters for enabling us to enrich the lives of such wonderful people!
Carole shares her’s and her husband’s experiences with Music24 throughout the last year…
My husband John is 78. In May 2020 he was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. Late last year Age UK phoned us to ask how we were coping with the lockdown. I said that I felt John's memory was definitely getting worse due to the lack of stimulation, and lack of contact with people.
Age UK put us in contact with Teela at Music24, John now benefits greatly from joining Monday afternoon singing sessions. As well as the singing there is always lots of friendly chatter and laughter coming from the room while he is on Zoom. John really enjoys meeting with the group each week and gets a tremendous amount from the sessions.
I have also gained so much support and friendship from joining the Carer’s Zoom group sessions that Music24 offers. The meetings enable us to support each other if it is a bad week for someone, but also enables us to share information and tips to help when certain situations that arise with our loved ones who have dementia. John and I are fairly early on in our dementia journey, but I feel that I am learning a lot from the other cares whose partners have more severe dementia.
I have also benefitted greatly from the weekly group and 1:1 EFT tapping sessions. I definitely feel that the sessions have helped me to gain a sense of calmness and acceptance of where John and I are in life. As a carer it can sometimes feel quite scary worrying about just how bad things are going to become as John’s dementia advances. The group consists of really lovely people, and the sessions are led by Dawn who has such a great empathy with us all, and an insight into what makes us all tick. She can sense when we are not ok.
Last month Music24 put on a well-being day on zoom. John and I could not believe the effort and preparation Teela and her team put into putting on such an amazing day for us all. Yoga, meditation, mindful art, pebble painting. I think there were around thirty people all joined together on Zoom. I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed spending the day with so many people all taking part in the activities in the safety of our own homes, while still being joined together. It was a very special, unique day enjoyed by everybody.
Teela and her Music24 Team put so much energy, enthusiasm and commitment into looking after us all. They make such a tremendous difference to our lives. I can’t begin to tell you how much benefit John and I have gained from being a part of Music24, and we count ourselves truly lucky and fortunate that Age UK put us in touch with them.
Carole & John Cassidy
13th April 2021
This work was made possible by:
