ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the effects on two people (i.e., a care home resident with dementia in palliative care and someone closely connected to her/him), sharing the experience of listening to familiar music together. Using case study illustrations, this brief chapter provides an overview of how live and pre-recorded music familiar to the person living with dementia (played by the author on the cello) created a “haven” within which new levels of connection and engagement were experienced by both listeners. Thus, sharing the experience of listening to music could be a means of enhancing and encouraging care home visits from family and friends, which all too often feel disappointing or discouraging when there is a perceived lack of connection. The end of this chapter provides a list of important issues to consider when using music for shared listening, particularly: the importance of not leaving someone alone with music (or any other type of media) playing if that person has no means of controlling it (i.e. on-off-volume-skipping or replaying a track); having an appropriate understanding of dementia and non-verbal communication; and also exploring unfamiliar music for shared listening.
