SilverKite Community Arts™ uses the arts as a tool to promote creative engagement in all stages of life, bridge generations, and work towards eliminating the effects of loneliness. Through our innovative, award-winning programs and services we strive to promote joy, build relationships, and strengthen communities – one connection at a time.
Music and Memory
Working to Improve Dementia Care and Quality of Life
Designed to improve the lives of residents in skilled nursing facilities who suffer from Alzheimer’s and other cognitive disorders, LeadingAge Washington and the Music & Memory Project will provide personalized music to skilled nursing residents in approximately 45 participating communities during a two year period.
The project incorporates the nationally known Music & Memory℠ program which brings individualized music to residents in long-term care homes via Mp3 players. Since 2008, the program has been successfully implemented in thousands of long-term care facilities in the U.S. and Canada.
The Music & Memory℠ Grant is funded through CMS. The project is open to all LeadingAge Washington nursing home providers in Washington state. We now have forty-one SNF’s certified. Press Release.
How MUSIC & MEMORY℠ Plays a Special Role in Veterans Care Communities
Music & Memory In the News
Volunteering for Music & Memory
Music & Memory Updates
A Mother’s Legacy Inspires a Benefit Concert for Music & Memory
A spry woman who danced to Big Band music at her 90th birthday bash, Betty Reed was a powerhouse.
A loyal Purdue alumna and lifelong fan of their women’s basketball team, Betty was, among her many accomplishments, one of the first women to enlist with the US Coast Guard SPARS during World War II; an Indiana farm wife and mother of three who helped her husband manage their 600 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and livestock; and a well-read librarian until she retired at 75.
Additional Staff Training – Newly hired staff at certified organizations are eligible to attend the Music & Memory Certification webinar free of charge. Communities may send unlimited new staff/volunteers for training.
Registration for additional staff takes place in the Care Community website. To register, login to the Care Community and click on Training ~> M&M Certification (Send Additional Staff and to order a Community plaque). After registering, new staff will be emailed login information and instructions to join the certification webinar.
Music & Memory Certified Organizations
Organizations that complete the MUSIC & MEMORY® Certification Program are certified as providers of our personalized music program. Our certification ensures families that their loved ones will have access to the transformative, therapeutic benefits of personalized music and marks the organization’s commitment to person-centered care.
Get the most out of your Music & Memory program
We “highly” recommend you watch/share the below video links with your staff/family members:
How can your organization get the most out of your Music & Memory program? Success starts at the top, with the full involvement of leadership. We’ve created this course to help busy administrators learn best practices for program rollout. It consists of a 12-minute video (above) and a user-friendly guidebook that explains the five steps for successful implementation. We’ve based this course on research conducted with six of our MUSIC & MEMORY® Certified Care Organizations, to offer you a field-tested, proven method to enhance the quality of care while meeting key strategic objectives:
Music & Memory is most successful when it’s a team effort. Every member of the care team has an important role to play. But nursing assistants are key to the mix because they spend the most time with residents in a very personal way. Not only do they witness the immediate benefits of personalized music, but also can play an essential role in helping to identify which songs have the most positive impact. In addition, they can observe and report when a resident would most benefit from listening to musical favorites—to help ease transitions, for example, or make dressing or bathing a more soothing activity.
The short video (above) shows why—in their own words–nursing assistants and other care team members value the benefits of personalized music for residents at MorseLife, a MUSIC & MEMORY® Certified Care Organization in West Palm Beach, Florida. Topics include:
Becoming a Music Detective
Storage & Hygiene
Enjoying the Music
Pass it On
MUSIC & MEMORY® for PT, OT, SLP
Therapists know the challenges of maximizing clinical outcomes – Music & Memory can help enhance their results with personalized music.
Music & Memory offers an established methodology that, when integrated into therapy, can improve client outcomes for a variety of real-life challenges drawn from the field, including:
Musical favorites tap deep emotional recall. That favorite song brings joy, eases pain, reduces stress, and can facilitate social connection. For family members, sharing a loved one’s music can enhance visits and deepen relationships that may have seemed lost, especially to dementia. For staff, personalized music provides an entryway to more meaningful relationships with those in their care — as well as a way to ease transitions, avoid challenging behaviors, and save time.
Again and again, care professionals tell us that our program is often life-changing for everyone involved:
At last, here is a way to give pleasure to people with advanced dementia.
Personalized music offers an enjoyable, fulfilling activity for those in dialysis, on vent, or bed-bound.
Listening to musical favorites increases cooperation and attention, and reduces resistance to care — a real boost for staff morale.
Personalized music reduces agitation and sundowning.
Beloved music enhances engagement and socialization, fostering a calmer social environment.
Music & Memory provides a valuable alternative to psychotropic medications.
Dates: January 25th – February 1, 8 and 15, 2022 – Tuesday’s Time: 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. 6 CEs The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has been focusing on behavioral health in Nursing Homes since the implementation of the Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Reform of Requirements for Long-Term Care Facilities, a three phased… Read More
Webinar: Cyber Security ~ Keyboard Clicks, Cyber Tricks and Scams! Guest Speaker: Dana Mantilia, Identity Protection Planning, An internationally Known Cyber Security Expert Credentials: Cyber Security and Risk Mitigation: Harvard University; Certified Parent Academy Speaker: Digital Future Initiatives; Certified Identity Protection Advisor: Identity Management Institute Philosophy: Most organizations hold the IT department responsible for educating the… Read More
Dates: January 25th – February 1, 8 and 15, 2022 – Tuesday’s Time: 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. 6 CEs The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has been focusing on behavioral health in Nursing Homes since the implementation of the Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Reform of Requirements for Long-Term Care Facilities, a three phased… Read More
Webinar: Cyber Security ~ Keyboard Clicks, Cyber Tricks and Scams! Most organizations hold the IT department responsible for educating the non-technical staff. This typically results in once a year training program employees dread. Dana takes a completely different approach. She teaches employees how to protect themselves, their families, and their homes. This brings cybersecurity awareness to… Read More
Join us for a fun, fascinating, FREE presentation your residents will love. The Story of Frank Sinatra – What Made Ol’ Blue Eyes Great? LIVE January 20, 2022 @ 2 pm PT • Available On Demand for Two Weeks After Airing Register Here “Let’s Beat the Blues with Mr. Blue Eyes” Consider a “Blue… Read More
Registration OPENS February 1st Questions? email Pat at psylvia@leadingagewa.org The Davenport Grand Hotel, Spokane Book your group rate for LeadingAge Washington Conference Interested in participating in our EXPO Show? June 14th 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Hold your Spot now!! HERE We are taking Call for Presentations until the end of January. Visit HERE for the… Read More
A spry woman who danced to Big Band music at her 90th birthday bash, 
