A Young Carer’s Experience – Nathan’s Story

What is your personal experience with dementia?
I feel I have always shown a caring and compassionate side, from childhood to present day. But it wasn’t until my Grandad (Ted) got diagnosed with dementia in my late teens that I mobilised these values into something more tangible. I was alarmed at the lack of effort to prevent and alleviate symptoms and engrossed by the possibility to use my interest in sports to provide exercise programmes to improve people’s lives (noteworthy: at this point I had only visited one nursing home). Sufficed to say, I never did get my exercise idea off the ground, but it led me to academia.

It wasn’t a straightforward process to get to where I am today. I didn’t have a good experience in education before University. I failed most of my GCSEs, scraped into college on a Level 1 Sports course and just about passed! I paid to retake my GCSEs and quite literally begged the college to take me back. Thankfully they did, and two degrees, one dodgy knee, and an array of jobs later, I have sort of ended up where I left off, in a roundabout way – working on the Meeting Centres project.

Why do you think music is so important, especially for people affected by dementia?
In the words of Richard Ashcroft, ‘Music is Power’. It can bring anyone and everybody together, but it also can be incredibly intimate and unshared. A means of a new experience or to reflect on past ones. It has shapes who I am, not least visually. After listening to The Kooks at a sleepover in my early teens, I never looked back. The Kooks are part of my identity.

Barring birth, all the key milestones in life are underpinned by music. When you get married, at your funeral, the list goes on. Music is not only critical to people’s sense of self, it’s part of the fabric of our society. Those with knowledge of the symptoms and pathology of dementia know the role that music can play, not only in maintaining aspects of people’s identity, but also developing them.

Have you experienced music being used in a dementia care setting? 
My experience of music in dementia care settings is mixed. Everyone is aware of the benefits, but playing the same CD on repeat day after day isn’t beneficial at all. When music is used in a person-centred way, I have seen it transform lives. You can just see their quality of life elevate. Especially the live music events that engage people and give them roles in the creation of music. Music has always been a way of life in my time as a carer and not a way of working. I like to think about my music-related habits and that instantly makes me appreciate just how different one day is to the next.