04 Jul New Music Program Initiative

This past spring, Vantage Living submitted a proposal to BC Patient Safety & Quality Council for the opportunity to receive a summer intern to help implement a quality improvement project. Our proposal was 1 of 10 selected out of over 60 applicants from all over British Columbia. We are very excited to have Niki Kandola, a Master’s student at UBCO, to help initiate our Individualized Music Program. This is part of a project to reduce agitation and the use of inappropriate antipsychotics in residents with dementia.

Music has a very powerful influence on individuals like evoking emotions associated from the memories it retrieves. It strengthens emotional bonds and improves mood by managing stress.1

Along with preventing episodes of agitation, we aim to improve the quality of life of our residents by developing a personalized music list. This that will evoke pleasant memories associated with that music to enhance their connections and interactions with staff and family.

1. Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. (2017). Education and Care. Music. Retrieved 2017, from http://www.alzfdn.org/EducationandCare/musictherapy.html