Walgreens supports music app for dementia patients

Research shows that music can be a powerful therapy for people living with dementia. Hearing a favorite song from the past can not only help with memory, but it can also lift a person’s spirits and help them stay motivated.

Music can also be incorporated into reminiscence therapy, which uses personal items such as old photographs and special items to help people with dementia to evoke memories. To make this process easier, Walgreens Find Care (the drugstore chain’s digital health platform) has partnered with a company called Music Health to provide families with an app to get personalized soundtracks for their loved ones with dementia.

Here’s what you need to know about the app, including why you might want to consider trying it if you’re caring for a loved one with dementia.

Reminiscence therapy and the soundtrack of one’s life

Sam Fazio, MD, senior director of quality care and psychosocial research at the Alzheimer’s Association, told Verywell that using music to support people with dementia has been shown to help reduce and manage dementia-related behaviours. such as agitation and refusal to eat.

According to Fazio, music is one of the non-pharmacological interventions that can help both people living with dementia and their caregivers.

Reminiscence therapy (which may include music) is used in many memory care facilities and skilled nursing facilities. Therapy also involves helping a person with dementia create a life story or using pictures and activities to prompt memories and conversations.

Songs should strike a chord

Making music part of therapy for someone with dementia requires some nuance—it can’t just be any music. Songs should relate to a person’s past (think of it as the “soundtrack to their life”) and be part of a person-centered assessment.

“We want to make sure we understand what’s important to somebody,” Fazio said. “If music hasn’t been or isn’t a part of someone’s life, we don’t want to make it a part of someone’s life.”

Plus, while some research on reminiscence therapy shows some possible benefits, more studies are needed, as the findings so far have been conflicting.

Music to the ears of a loved one

The app that Walgreens supports is called Vera. Nick Johnson, founder and CEO of Music Health, clarified that the app does not make playlists. Instead, Vera uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create a virtual radio station with an assortment of songs or music that changes over time.

According to Johnson, the Vera app is a wellness tool, not music therapy. Music therapy refers to health professionals who use music to achieve health goals.

The list of songs produced by Vera is based on information about the person living with dementia that the carer enters into the app. This matching process involves answering questions about the person, including their age, where they were born, where they lived as teenagers and young adults, and what genres of music they like to listen to.

“We’re asking basic questions about musical tastes,” Johnson said. “Based on that, we have enough information as a starting point to find the right music for that person.”

The power of a playlist isn’t just that music from a person’s past triggers memories—it can also calm a person who’s agitated or uncommunicative.

Change your ringtone

The playlist will adapt and adjust over time based on information about how the person with dementia responds to it. Music Health has licensed the entire catalog of Universal Music Group, which gives the Vera app access to hundreds of thousands of records and songs from every genre.

The caregiver can regularly update the app on the person’s mood and behavior, which helps fine-tune the music selection.

For example, did a song reduce arousal? Has someone else helped an uncommunicative person start connecting with others? If a song elicits a negative response or the person doesn’t like it, a quick push of a button ensures that the song is never played again.

How to get the Vera app

The base Vera app costs $89.99 per year or $49.99 for a six-month membership with a free trial. It can be downloaded from Google Play and App Store. If Vera is picked up through Walgreens Find Care, there is a $5 discount.

Most families will get the benefits with the basic app, but there is also a version called Vera Pro for facilities caring for people living with dementia.

Karen May, a spokeswoman for Walgreens, said that by making Vera available through the Walgreens Find Care platform (on Walgreens.com and the Walgreens app), the company is “able to provide people living with various forms of dementia with convenient and affordable access to personalized music from their computers and smart devices.”