Personal playlists reduce medication by 80%
A health and social care team working in Fife has reported an 80% reduction in the use of medication since integrating personally meaningful music into their care of people living with dementia.
The Older Adult Community Mental Health Team from the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership recently completed Playlist for Life training and become the first community mental health team in Scotland to receive accreditation under our training since it was relaunched in 2020.
Celebratory event marks team accreditation
The dedicated and passionate nurses, led by Community Mental Health Nurse Nicola Hurst, were presented with an official Playlist for Life plaque at a special ceremony which was attended by Helen Skinner, Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Nurse Consultant for NHS Fife; Nicky Connor, Chief Officer for Fife Integration Joint Board and Director of Fife Health and Social Care Partnership; Rebecca Kennedy, Head of Communities at Playlist for Life and NHS Fife colleagues and student nurses from the University of Dundee also attended.
As part of the event, members of the team shared demonstrative examples of how harnessing Playlist for Life’s approach to personally meaningful music in dementia care, had resulted in a sense of safety and comfort in times of distress for people living with dementia.
Meaningful music can reduce the need for medication
Personal playlists were created and used with 10 people living with dementia and upon evaluation of effectiveness, an 80% reduction in medication was recorded. In the case of one individual a 100% reduction in medication was recorded after personally meaningful music was integrated into their care plan.
Community Mental Health Nurse Michelle McCreadie shared the person's story with permission from their partner and carer:
As the dementia progressed, their world became more confusing. They were disorientated, unsettled, and agitated and were prescribed daily doses of PRN (as required) medication. The one person providing safety and comfort in their everchanging world was their partner, who they followed everywhere. While it was great for them to feel safe, it caused their partner great distress.
After using Playlist for Life techniques to source songs and create a playlist for them, it was observed, that after listening to their personalised music, they were more alert and engaging and for the first-time in a long-time, initiating communication with their partner
Their playlist is used strategically during his daily care to support them and give them comfort in times of confusion and unrest. This also gives their partner the much-needed respite they need in order to stay together at home. They use this listening time for themselves so that they can do things like shower while they sit in the comfort of memories while listening to the music that they both share together. They now require no PRN medication, just their music.
@playlistforlife A health and social care team has had great success in using playlists in dementia care after completing our training. #DementiaCare #HealthCare #SocialCare #Dementia #MentalHealth #Community #CommunityCare #MusicandDementia #Music
♬ original sound - Playlist For Life
Harnessing personal playlists in dementia care
Playlist for Life’s Rebecca Kennedy hailed the success of the nurses saying that they had ‘paved the way for future teams and NHS Fife continues to set the gold standard of embedding meaningful music into dementia care within a Health Board.’
Our goal is for Playlist for Life to be available to people at all points of the dementia care pathway, so the dedication of this team to bring the power of playlists to people in their own homes is wonderful. The impact that it is already having for patients and the plans the team have to roll this out further are truly inspiring.
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