Timeless Tunes drop off Group Kit to Local Nursing Homes

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We are looking for Rotarians passionate about people with dementia to pick up and distribute Timeless Tunes Group Kits to various facilities.

Timeless Tunes is a music project through the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Timeless Tunes offers a MP3 player (preloaded with music), ear phones and charger to people with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia living within the AAFGCC service area.

Eventually, we will expand this program to other areas. Currently we are serving the following Florida Counties: Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Polk, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota and Sumter.

AAFGCC is providing a Timeless Tunes Group Kit to certain facilities so that their clients with dementia can have access to the program.

Music and Dementia

Music can be a powerful tool. Studies suggest that music may reduce agitation and improve behavioral issues and mood. Music is used as an intervention for people affected by dementia. Dan Cohen with his program Music and Memories has been instrumental in spreading awareness about music as he creates opportunities for people with dementia to access music, especially in the facility setting. Documenting Cohen’s work, Alive Inside (2014), suggests that music can be a non-pharmacological intervention, an alternative to behavioral modifying medications. Several Chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association run similar community-based programs. The Roth Project (Alzheimer’s Association of Central and Western Kansas), for example, found their participants to have less unwanted behaviors and improved quality of life. Moreover, music provides a way to connect. Even after verbal communication has become difficult, music can trigger memories of youth opening doors to once thought lost identities.

Timeless Tunes is designed to help make accessing music easier for the person with dementia. As such, MP3 players are preprogrammed. Directions are provided so that caregivers can easily start the program and change music as needed.