Photo: Contributed
(L to R): Brookhaven’s Karen Littleton, Interior Savings’ Whitney Speirs and Brookhaven’s Darcy Jong.
Five organizations in the Thompson Okanagan recently received an Impact Grant to help those affected by Alzheimer’s.
The Music & Memory program is a therapeutic music program that provides special training to caregivers combined with personalized playlists to help people reconnect with memories and their loved ones. It has been found that music can awaken the brain and, with it, the rich trove of memories that are associated with familiar songs or beloved pieces.
Interior Savings donated $10,000 to the initiative, and Concentra’s Empowering Your Community matched that amount for a grand total of $20,000. Interior Savings decided it would then award five grants worth $4,000 each.
“Personalized music helps to help create moments of joy and peace and provides caregivers another strategy to assist those they care for,” Brookhaven Care Centre therapeutic recreation specialist Darcy Jong said in a press release.
Brookhaven, which is located in West Kelowna, received the Impact Grant along with Ashcroft’s Thompson View Manor Society, Clearwater’s Forest View Place, Kamloops’ Hillside Tertiary Psychiatric Centre and Penticton’s Good Samaritan, Village by the Station.
“Many of us have been touched by dementia and similar conditions. Whether it’s our family or friends, we’ve seen first-hand the isolation that can result,” Interior Savings CEO Kathy Conway said. “As a certified age-friendly business with a community impact goal to promote social connection with age, we’re thrilled to help these organizations launch this remarkable program.”
All five organizations received a set of 15 MP3 music players, headphones and a/c adapters, a laptop, external speakers, starter music, and Music & Memory certification and support.
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