Line of Duty Star forms dementia choir in moving BBC documentary
Star of popular BBC crime drama, Vicky McClure, put together a choir of people aged 31-87 with dementia, to prove the therapeutic effects of music.
As part of a two-part documentary titled ‘Our Dementia Choir’ (parts 1 and 2 aired on the 2nd and 9th May respectively), Vicky investigates the science of how music and singing can stimulate the brain. She admitted to the BBC that she had deeply personal reasons for undertaking the documentary, after losing her grandmother to dementia in 2015.
“I learned with my Nonna, who had dementia, that when we sang we were all on the same page,” McClure says during the documentary.
“For me those were the best days because we were all communicating at the same time and she was smiling...”
According to Dr Geraldine Boyle of The Open University, there is evidence that suggests music therapy can help to relieve the symptoms of anxiety and depression for those with dementia, as well as improve overall awareness:
“Music can reach people with dementia when usual care approaches are not working well and the person is struggling to get the attention they need…when used thoughtfully and sensitively, music can enrich life and bring meaning to an increasingly fragile mind.”
‘We really do need to roll this out nationwide,’ Vicky urges.‘It is proven — it’s having a huge effect on people’s lives.’
Indeed, over the 12 weeks of singing with the choir, Vicky’s team of 20 singers did indeed demonstrate improvements across psychological and medical testing.
There are 850,000 people currently living in the UK with dementia, with the number predicted to rise above 1 million by 2025. It’s therefore more important than ever before that a cure for dementia continues to be researched, and different avenues for alleviating its symptoms are thoroughly explored.
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