Danielle Law, an activities co-ordinator with Stratheden Hospital, shared her experience of working with a family to create a playlist for their relative who had been diagnosed with dementia. It was so successful that the family very generously made a donation that enabled the ward to buy every patient an MP3 player and headphones. After creating a personalised playlist for everyone, it was observed that patients had reduced anxiety, reduced need for medication, increased mood and higher quality of visits with family.

Fran Lawson, a staff nurse who represented Ward 2 in Glenrothes Hospital, gave an insightful presentation on her journey to become a dementia champion and her strive to make change for those living with dementia. Fran praised our training, sharing that it gave her the courage to take things forward and create change for patients.

Fran and her colleagues used Playlist to support a patient with late-stage dementia. The patient, a former Sergeant Major who loved music and played the trumpet and the piano, showed stress and anxiety and his short-term memory was almost gone. With the help of his partner, Fran used our resources to create a playlist. Fran described the results as ‘awesome’ noting that he was able to sing one of his favourite songs, Abide with Me by The Salvation Army, with his partner.