Small town in Queensland uses music to tap into the memory vault persons with dementia

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Music has been known to soothe the soul and that's proving to be true for a group of singers with dementia on Queensland’s Fraser coast. With higher rates of dementia outside major cities this small-town choir is using the power of song to help its locals tap into the memory vault.

Transcript

00:00Moments like these give Jenny Jagol's hope.

00:11When her husband Gil was diagnosed with dementia last year, it shattered life as they knew it.

00:17It's hard. And the hard part is, you know, thank you,

00:23is that it's not like taking a pill and everything's going to be all right.

00:30Gil has now become a man of few words, but when words fail, music speaks.

00:40He might be singing a different song.

00:43What the hell? He's using his voice and his...

00:47You're belting it out, weren't you, yesterday?

00:50He's joined the Forget-Me-Nots, a choir for Harvey Bay locals with dementia and their carers.

00:56The goal is not to be pitch perfect, but to keep motor and mental skills sharp.

01:01I don't sing very well because I'm breathing no good, but it doesn't matter. It's good.

01:07I like the songs, that's it, but they've got music out of my vintage.

01:11Once they get here, their face lights up, they're tapping their feet,

01:16they're singing the songs, they're having a laugh with the other people.

01:21A third of the Fraser Coast's population is aged over 65,

01:25yet those here feel there's a lack of dementia resources.

01:29It's very limited, so specific dementia services, we have maybe three or four at tops.

01:37There are more than 85,000 Queenslanders living with dementia,

01:41but experts say those in regional areas face extra hurdles,

01:45like a greater risk of social isolation and being further away from services.

01:50Dementia-friendly choirs are incredibly important and powerful supports

01:56for people that are either living with dementia, for families and carers,

02:00or for people who are concerned about their cognition.

02:03A cause that really strikes a chord.

02:06It's a country's road, it's taking home.

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