Making Music Accessible for Seniors
"When he was listening to music, it brought life back into my father's eyes. He became alert to his surroundings and the spark in him returned."
-Rick Diamond
The Heart for Music program was inspired by our founders' personal journey with his late father's dementia.
Listening to music is an enlivening and meaningful experience. It can unlock cherished memories and bring feelings of joy and calm. The 2014 Audience Award-winning Sundance film, Alive Inside, tells the story of patients in care homes who struggle with impaired neurological function, such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and how music improved their quality of life.
Music brings healing, hope, and happiness. This is also what we endeavor to bring to BC's seniors and hardworking care home staff.
“Music is therapy. Music moves people. It connects people in ways that no other medium can. It pulls heartstrings. It acts as medicine.”
Macklemore
Customized Playlists
Music from one's past can reach past the boundaries of the brain. Staff and families work together to provide each senior with personal playlists full of music that is meaningful to them. Once set up, the Heart for Music Program is a tangible way for families, staff and volunteers to bring smiles and contentment to their loved ones and residents.
Heart for Music has created many group listening playlists which can be enjoyed by all. These playlists include multiple languages, interests, and genres.
Program Donation Breakdown
Meaningful music activities
Music Equipment
Tablets, headphones, speakers, percussion instruments, and more.
Live Music Events
Laughter, dancing and singing, focused in the Lower Mainland, BC.
Customized Playlists
Staff support to set up music accounts and playlists unique to each individual.
“Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears – it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more – it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.”