NICE recommends music therapy for dementia

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended that people living with dementia should be offered music therapy, as part of their updated Quality Standard on dementia.

NICE recommends that people living with dementia should be offered activities including music therapy, that can help promote wellbeing. People with dementia, and those involved in their care, should be given the opportunity to talk about their life experiences, preferences, interests, strengths and needs with a healthcare professional. This can help them to choose activities to promote wellbeing that suit their preferences and needs.

Chief Executive Julie Whelan said:

“At Nordoff Robbins we welcome this important and timely recommendation by NICE to offer music therapy to people living with dementia.

“Our highly skilled music therapists see the difference that music makes every day, in the care homes and hospices where we work to support people to live well with dementia. Music therapy plays a vital role in easing anxiety, reducing isolation and helping people with dementia to regain their sense of identity.

“Music therapy is particularly beneficial in dementia care, as people retain their capacity to respond to and become engaged in music even as the brain deteriorates. While someone might have lost language, we can still work with them in music, and this is key in breaking down the social isolation that is too often considered inevitable with dementia.

“Music therapy helps to create a profound feeling of being connected, and this can be so valuable to people living with dementia and their loved ones. It is great that NICE has recognised this, and we look forward to seeing these recommendations implemented, as part of a more personalised and person-centred approach to care.”

Music therapy can help people with dementia to sustain cognitive functioning, motor skills, communication and identity.

Find out more here:

Music Therapy and Dementia