Musician turned psychologist develops music and dementia course in tribute to grandparents

A University of Stirling graduate is combining her years as a musician and a degree in Psychology to teach people about the benefits of music to those with a dementia.

But there is something else Christina MacLean is bringing to the mix: her own lived experience with her grandparents, both of whom lived with a dementia.

When Christina graduated last week with a Master of Science in Psychology, her grandparents, Charles and May MacLean, were uppermost in her mind. 

It’s thanks to them that she reached out to the University of Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) for a work placement. And she credits them with inspiring her to create the Centre’s first course in music and dementia, which has been running successfully throughout this year.

Charles and May MacLean inspired Christina's studies and the training programme she has launched.

Music has always been a big part of Christina’s life and that of her grandparents, who lived in Dunbeg on the outskirts of Oban. Christina has fond memories of her grandparents slow dancing and laughing to music. When she visited them, the couple would play songs by their favourite Scottish artists, call into the local radio station with music requests, and sing with her.

Research, including University of Stirling studies, has shown that music’s benefits to dementia care include memory and reminiscence, mood and wellbeing, social connection, and physical activity. 

Christina said she made the connection between music and memory when she was a child. It was in Charles’ latter stages of Alzheimer’s, when he was in a care home, that he began to recall memories from his days as a drummer.

Music as a way to communicate

Christina, originally from Lochgilphead, said: “My grandpa used to pick up pencils and start drumming. I was around 10 at the time, but I think that’s the first moment I realised music could be an important way to communicate with someone living with a dementia. My grandma and I would sing together, right up until when she passed away this year.”

Christina, talented in both guitar and vocals, obtained an undergraduate degree in Popular Music from the University of the Highlands and Islands, followed by a Master of Science by Research degree in Music from the University of Edinburgh. This led her to complete a second Masters, a conversion course in Psychology at Stirling.

The half-day online training course in music and dementia is aimed at carers and social care staff and explores the benefits of music and its role in supporting people with a dementia across various settings.

First-time training course

Christina, who is now studying for a PhD in Dementia Studies at the University of Stirling, said: “I feel like all roads were leading me to this. My own experience with my grandparents’ and their different subtypes of dementia, my love for them, and for my passion in music, all of that has come together and resulted in me developing this course from scratch. As far as I know, it’s the first time a university has offered such a course. It really is a tribute to my grandparents.”

She added: “It’s open to everyone and you certainly don’t have to be musical to do the course.”

Based at the University of Stirling, DSDC uses research to inform practice, and practice to inform research, providing comprehensive resources for anyone supporting someone living with a dementia, both personally and professionally.

The University is a key centre for research into dementia and healthy ageing. Find out more here: Dementia and ageing research | Research | University of Stirling