St Joseph's Hospice
People: Helping older people feel connected
As part of our Dementia Wellbeing East London service, we offer our community a series of six sensory music sessions which are shown to have a profound impact on people with dementia.
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About this cause
Founded in 1905, St Joseph's Hospice supports a population of 2.2million people in the UK’s poorest boroughs including Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets, and is the official hospice for the City of London. We enable anyone living with a life-limiting illness to have equal access to holistic and palliative care, delivered free of charge. We offer respite, social activities, dementia care, counselling, complementary therapies, and welfare support, alongside end-of-life care. Our vision is that everyone with a life-limiting illness is supported to live well until the end of life, and that they are able to die in the place of their choice. Our community is incredibly diverse and we advocate equality in access to healthcare for every person, regardless of their race, religion or background.
How this cause brings people in the community together
We all have a need to connect with others. Dementia Wellbeing East London designs activities with this need, and potential benefits to our members, in mind. We ran a hugely successful sensory music session in May, and now hope to host six sessions each year for people living with advanced dementia in the boroughs of Hackney, City of London, Tower Hamlets, and Newham. These performances offer sensory stimulation that can help people with dementia reconnect with loved ones and find joy in music and creativity. Specialists will lead a variety of known and loved songs, which have been shown to tap into the memory of people with dementia, to sing along and help them feel connected to a community that welcomes them. Music sessions support everyone to be involved, however advanced their dementia.