These new guides are primarily written for link workers, but will also provide an insight into the subject for people who are assigned a link worker, as well as their carers and family members.
The full-length guide includes;
- details of the benefits of music for people living with dementia
- musical social prescriptions
- how to have a conversation about music
- how to involve family and friends.
The one-page short guide is a colourful summary of this material, designed in an accessible, quick reference format. It can be shared online or printed off for displaying in GP surgeries and memory clinics.
Commenting on the new guides, Grace Meadows, Music for Dementia Programme Director, said: “Link workers are already doing a fantastic job of supporting people through social prescribing, and we are delighted to have worked with the National Academy for Social Prescribing on producing these guides to support all link workers to feel confident in helping to make music a part of good dementia care through the social prescribing model.”
Also available on the Music for Dementia website are the Social Workers’ guides, co-produced with the Office of the Chief Social Worker for Adults in December 2020.