Scottish based 'Playlist for Life' was set up by writer and broadcaster Sally Magnusson in 2013 to spread awareness of the powerful impact that music can have in helping people cope with the symptoms of dementia after seeing at first hand how carefully selected music from her Mother's life had helped ease her journey through dementia.

The free app, launched by the charity in October 2017,  helps people find the music that holds personal significance for them and then create a playlist of songs and music with the power to boost mood, reduce agitation and distress, and even trigger memories.

Writing for The Sunday Post, Ross Crae explains more....

The new app introduces people to the character of the Music Detective, their friendly guide who helps them track down the music that forms the soundtrack of their life – or the life of a loved one.

Users can access a range of reminiscence prompts to guide them to the music that holds the strongest memories. Or they can browse over a hundred playlists of songs from the past century.

The app taps into the expertise of Playlist for Life’s real-life music detectives who will be adding new playlists every month to delight and surprise users.

Once someone has found their music they can listen to it whenever they need it, day or night. The app also helps people make the best use of their music by encouraging them to add labels to each song.

The labels will help them organise their playlist by what it reminds them of, how it makes them feel, and what they want to do while listening.

The app is powered by Spotify and allows users to listen to more than 30 million songs available in Spotify’s library. Users will need a premium Spotify account to make full use of the app.

Sarah Metcalfe, Chief Executive of Playlist for Life, explains: 
“It’s never too early to start creating your playlist. We want everyone to know about the power of personally-meaningful music for people living with dementia.
Creating a playlis​​​​​t for yourself or a loved one is a great way to get people talking about music for dementia. And the Playlist for Life app is a fun way for all of us to start creating that playlist.”

“The incredible generosity of our funding partners has allowed us to develop an app that will make it easier for people to find the most potent music to connect with loved ones who have dementia, and for those in the earlier stages of the illness themselves to find and use the music that means most to them.”

Sally Magnusson - Founder, Playlist for Life

Find out more about the app at www.playlist for life.org.uk/app

Source: www.sundaypost.com