We sit down with Dr. Joanna Marshall, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with a passion for non-pharmacological interventions.
Hi Joanna, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Can you tell us about your job and what motivates you in the role?
I am an NHS Clinical Psychologist who has worked with older people for over 20 years. For the last decade, I have led a multi-disciplinary Care Home Liaison team at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. I love working with care home staff and families to understand people better and develop interventions to improve their wellbeing and reduce their distress. We have shared our work at national conferences and in journal articles, including a recent publication for Dementia Community, see Marshall, J. & Thwaites, S. (2024). Non-pharmacological prescribing in a care home liaison service. Journal of Dementia Care, 32, 5.
What made you want to complete Playlist for Life’s Certified Training and how has it helped you develop your professional skills?
I wanted our team to complete the training following an inspiring keynote presentation that Andy Lowndes, Vice Chair at Playlist for Life, gave at the British Psychological Society’s Faculty for the Psychology of Older People (FPOP) national conference in 2017. Personalised music playlists have now become our most frequently prescribed non-pharmacological intervention for people presenting with distress or behaviours that challenge in dementia. Our brilliant Clinical Associate Psychologist Megan Holden has recently completed the Playlist for Life Trainer the Trainer course with other TEWV colleagues across Mental Health Services for Older People, both inpatient and community, see Holden, M., Marshall, J. & Lowndes, A. (2022). Implementing Playlist for Life in care home settings. Psychology of Older People: The FPOP Bulletin, 151, 61-62.
You’re passionate about developing non-pharmacological interventions. Can you tell us about a time or scenario where meaningful music reduced or replaced the need for medicine for someone living with dementia?
Medication is often prescribed when people are very distressed, there is a risk of admission to hospital or someone having to move home. One of the aims of our service is to increase use of non-pharmacological interventions as a first line intervention. One of the first people that we developed a playlist for was an 86-year-old lady who was very distressed and was wandering around the care home asking to go home to see her parents. She would not sit down long enough to eat and was losing weight. The care home staff had tried to reassure her and engage her in activities, but this was not effective. Prior to moving to the care home, she was cared for by her son. He would regularly play a particular song that reminded her of her dad and had a soothing effect. We provided her with a personalised music playlist on an MP3 player with a speaker, including this song. There was an instant change in her presentation when the song began to play – she smiled, began to tap her foot, move her body side to side and sing along. As we left after the visit, she sat down in the dining room to eat her lunch
What’s one thing that you do for your own wellbeing that you’d recommend to others?
One of the things that I have tried to do, particularly since the pandemic, is to experience live music with friends and family. Music is such a powerful means of connecting us to the people we love and creating positive emotional memories that last a lifetime, and that are more likely to be preserved if we develop dementia. This year I took my mum, siblings, auntie, and cousin to see the brilliant soul vocalist Noel McCalla and saxophonist Derek Nash perform some of Stevie Wonder’s iconic music. Then I took my teenage daughter and her friends to her first gig to see an artist that I had never heard of. The school mums sang along and danced, even though we did not know the words.
Lastly, what songs would feature on your personal playlist?
Dream Angus
My Scottish Granny used to sing us this lullaby. It brings back memories of big pots of broth and salty porridge. I loved it when I realised that Sally’s mum, Mamie, and I both had this song on our playlist.
Joanna, Scott Walker
The song I was named after that reminds me of my father, who died when I was young. My Dad used to sing it to me, then my brother sang it on my 40th birthday party. It is a big part of my life story and my identity.
Superstition by Stevie Wonder
An inheritance track from my parents that never fails to get everyone on the dance floor. Great to experience live on ‘The Wonder of Stevie’ tour.
No Diggity by Black Street
I remember dancing to this on nights out at university, then being very excited to hear a local band called the Sponge Divers play it after a Newcastle Falcons rugby game at Kingston Park. The boys brought live soul, funk, blues, and R&B to my 40th birthday party.
Bamboleo by Gipsy Kings
This enlivening track reminds me of growing up in the south of Spain. It’s lovely to listen to it years later and watch my daughters dance to it in their pink Flamenco dresses.
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