‘We Will Tell Everyone’ is a result of a research collaboration between members of the Dementia Research Advisory Team at The Alzheimer Society of Ireland (The ASI) and the Music Therapy Department at The Irish World Academy, UL. Written collaboratively with support from myself and my Academy colleague, Dr. Lisa Kelly, the original song explores the experiences of living with dementia and the importance of public and patient involvement in dementia research. Helen Rochford -Brennan, Kevin Quaid and Gerry Paley are all living with various types of dementia with support from their family and friends Carmel Geoghegan, Helena Quaid, and Nuala Paley, and are committed to raising awareness of dementia, PPI in dementia research and breaking the stigma of a dementia diagnosis. They collaborated with music therapist Lisa Kelly from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, at the University of Limerick on her PhD research exploring the role of music therapy for people with dementia and their family caregivers. This research was supervised by Prof. Hilary Moss, Course Director of the MA Music Therapy and Prof. Ita Richardson from Lero – The Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software. Seeing as these PPI (Public and Patient Involvement) contributors shared so much of their own personal and experiential knowledge during the research process, it seemed only fitting that Lisa shared her music therapy knowledge and skills with them and shared the impact that music can have on their lives.
About the project, our PPI contributors say……
Helen:
“To be able to tell the world that you can still dance, you can drive, you can go on enjoying your life … it’s powerful’.
Kevin:
’I just realised today that there’s nothing we can’t do’.
Gerry:
‘It really, really is very deep, very empowering, and a very strong, sincere message to others’.
Prof. Helen Phelan, Irish World Academy Director
‘We are so proud to support the production of this inspirational song….an excellent example of how music and the arts can be harnessed to create research with people rather than on them.’
This studio recording of “We Will Tell Everyone’ features the PPI participants, collectively known as The Memory Lane Heroes, along with Carl Corcoran and the Irish World Academy ‘Nasc’ Choir conducted by Dr. Kathleen Turner. The recording is supported by The ASI, Anam Music Therapy and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance and is on the usual Digital Platforms from August 1, accompanied by a video created by Scott Robinson.
Links to follow;
www.alzheimer.ie
www.anammusictherapy.com
www.irishworldacademy.ie
