Manchester to host UK’s first dementia music therapy centre

Greater Manchester is about to become home to a cutting edge research facility investigating how music can help people with dementia

Earlier this year, Manchester Camerata successfully secured substantial financial backing from Mayor Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester NHS, and the National Association of Social Prescribing’s Power of Music Fund to establish the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia.

Beginning Monday, October 14th, Manchester Camerata will expand its pioneering Music in Mind program to all ten boroughs in Greater Manchester.

This initiative, in collaboration with The Alzheimer’s Society and the University of Manchester, aims to enhance the lives of those living with dementia through the transformative power of music.

The centre, under the stewardship of Manchester Camerata, will explore how music can help improve the quality of life for those living with dementia.

Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia — Bob Riley (Manchester Camerata), Andy Burnham (Mayor of Greater Manchester), Charlotte Osborn-Forde (NASP) (c) Jay Cipriani

Music Cafés for people living with dementia and their carers will run weekly in community centres, church halls and dementia support groups in Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan & Leigh.

Each Music Café provides in the moment’ person-centered care for people living with dementia based upon Camerata’s award winning Music in Mind techniques.

Manchester Camerata believes everyone deserves access to this life changing support. At each Music Café– participants – ie those living with dementia and their carers – are invited to take part in music making using a wide range of percussive instruments (no previous musical experience needed).

The sessions create a meaningful conversation without words.

As part of this Centre of Excellence café initiative across Greater Manchester – Camerata will also train over 300 members of the public (to be called Music Champions) in their Music in Mind techniques – eventually enabling them to run their own Music Cafés. To help recruit these Music Champions and set up Music Cafés, Manchester Camerata will be working with local partners in each borough, including Age UK, Mind, Together Dementia Support, HMR Circle and Bolton Dementia Support. The training of Music Champions to run these sessions will directly support over 1000 people living with dementia in Greater Manchester over the next three years.

Singing for The Brain sessions

Together Manchester Camerata and Alzheimer’s Society – who will be upscaling their weekly Singing for The Brain sessions – will collaborate with The University of Manchester and NHS GM to undertake anonymised data-driven research into the impact of these music sessions for people living with dementia.

The aim of the Centre of Excellence is the creation of a true partnership between health and care providers, voluntary organisations, music providers and dementia support organisations. It will test new approaches to embedding music as part of dementia care, gather evidence of cost savings for the NHS and design new models of care which could be scaled up and spread across England.

Alzheimer’s statistics UK

According to the NHS, there are over 940,000 people in the UK who have dementia with 1 in 11 people over the age of 65 being most affected.

Alzheimer’s Society suggests that by 2025 there will be over 1 million people with dementia in the UK, projected to rise to nearly 1.6 million by 2040.

Currently, the care of these people in the UK costs over £34billion per year.

The long-term goal of this – the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia – is to use the knowledge and research built up over the next three years to analyse how the implementation of music in dementia care can reduce the need for health and care services whilst simultaneously improving quality of their life.

Music in Mind and Singing for the Brain

Manchester Camerata’s Music in Mind is an internationally renowned programme that uses the principles of music therapy to improve the wellbeing of people living with dementia.

The programme was created in collaboration with research partner the University of Manchester and the programme was devised from the foundations of some of the world’s leading dementia experts and their research.

The Camerata has established training, delivery and support offers to help partners create Music Cafes and recruit Music Champions, and has worked with partners in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sweden and Japan to help them set up their own music and dementia programmes.

Music Champions

Manchester Camerata and Alzheimer’s Society will recruit, nurture and train a volunteer and community workforce of 300 ‘Music Champions’ who will be trained to deliver the Music Cafes, helping to support over 1000 people living with dementia in Greater Manchester across three years starting from October 2024.

The research and data analysed by the University of Manchester will demonstrate the impact of embedding music support as part of dementia care and how this model can be scaled up and rolled out across the UK and result in cost-saving measures for the NHS.

Bob Riley, Chief Executive of Manchester Camerata, said: “This is a colossal moment built on over ten years of work and research in partnership with The University of Manchester.

“We know it will bring much-needed support for people living with dementia and their carers. It will create new opportunities for our amazing musicians in the UK, and bring about changes in the way we invest in music to bring the widest possible benefits to society.

“Sincere thanks to the leadership and vision of Andy Burnham, Sir Richard Leese and NHS GM, the National Academy of Social Prescribing, The Utley Foundation, Arts Council England and many others.

“We appreciate their boldness and commitment to the power of music, and in recognising the outstanding musicians whose passion and commitment makes such an incredible impact on and off the stage.”

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester comments: “I know from my own experience how tough dementia can be for families.

“Sadly, too many people across Greater Manchester will know the pain and the frustration of seeing a loved one going through this disease.

“But they will also know the dedication and compassion of those doing all they can to care for the people affected.

“The work that Manchester Camerata and its partners are doing to improve lives and embed music into dementia healthcare is more important than ever. These music cafes will offer crucial support for people living with dementia across our city-region and provide a national model for a more integrated approach to health and social care policies.”

Janet Fulton, Principal Percussion with Manchester Camerata and Music in Mind practitioner comments: “Running these dementia Music Cafés for over a decade in care homes, community groups and supported living settings, has been one of the greatest highlights, and most rewarding part of my career.

“Witnessing first-hand the impact and pure joy that our wonderful participants experience through them leading our musical interaction with instruments, gestures and sounds, is a real privilege.

“And to see their carers visibly relax during these sessions and help them reconnect with their loved ones and residents through music is an incredible honour and such a special opportunity as a musician. I have been able to witness first-hand the real transformative effect music has on people’s lives, and how music fundamentally is about communication.”

“Life changing dementia support”

Charlotte Osborn-Forde, Chief Executive of the National Academy for Social Prescribing, said: “We worked with the Utley Foundation and Arts Council England to create The Power of Music Fund, to ensure that many more people living with dementia can benefit from musical projects.

“Through the Centre of Excellence, we aim to demonstrate how prescribing music to people living with dementia can improve quality of life, reduce isolation, and lessen the need for medication, hospital admissions and GP appointments.

“We were delighted to choose Greater Manchester after an outstanding bid. This project will provide a lifeline to people living with dementia in Manchester, but also provide new evidence and a model that can be replicated across the country.”

Alzheimer’s Society’s Singing for the Brain is a programme based on music therapy principles, bringing people living with dementia together to sing a variety of songs they know and love, in a fun and friendly environment. The sessions also include vocal exercises that help improve brain activity and wellbeing whilst also creating an opportunity for people living with dementia and their carers to socialise with others and experience peer support.

The Power of Music Fund was established by the National Academy for Social Prescribing, with generous support from the Utley Foundation, Arts Council England and other partners. It builds on the recommendations of the 2022 Power of Music report. In addition to the Centre of Excellence in Greater Manchester, the Fund is also awarding small grants to 70 grassroots music and dementia projects across the UK and will support more than 5500 people in total.

You can find out more about Music in Mind by clicking here

This article was last updated 1 month ago.
It was first published on 13 May 2024 and is subject to be updated from time to time. Please refresh or return to see the latest version.

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