Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a new dementia strategy which references the use of music to support people living with dementia.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Quality Standard on Dementia, published in June 2019, recommends that therapeutic use of music be considered as a means of non-pharmacological intervention for people with dementia. Localities should take account of this guidance.

The Department funds research on the use of musical techniques for people living with dementia via the National Institute for Health and Care Research. This includes a major study investigating how music therapy can reduce patient distress and physical assaults on National Health Service inpatient wards for people with dementia. The study is called MELODIC, and will create a programme of music therapy which will be piloted on two NHS mental health wards at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.