Music can evoke powerful memories and offer a sense of normality to people who face diseases or death. This is what tries to make the former DJ Dave Gilmore, who creates a playlist to face his terminal illness.
DJ Dave Gilmore spent years in London managing the soundtrack of the nights of other people in bars and discos.
Now he is healed a totally personal playlist: the songs that were important for him in life and will lead him to cross his terminal illness.
The list includes November Rain AND Sweet Child O Minefrom the guns n ‘roses, Apachefrom the shadows (which inspired Gilmore to play the guitar) and Comfortably Numbby Pink Floyd.
The success of 1980 Wants?From Hazel O’Connor, he is dedicated to his wife and mother of his two children. Hears the powerful tension that precedes the novels, the song is known by the saxophone, a tool that Gilmore has also learned to play.
“It’s our music when we are together,” he says to the TV show Morning Livefrom the BBC.
The song evokes memories, while his wife Kate adds slowly: “The struggle was worth it”.
Moments like this underline the power of music to establish lasting connections.
Its therapeutic benefits are increasingly recognized, in palliative assistance and at the end of life.
Its impact is neurological and also emotional, according to the managing director of the dementia of British NGOs for the dementia of the British Onge UTley Foundation, Sarah Metcalfe.
The images of the brain activity show that the song “illuminates” various parts of our brain. It is simultaneously touched physical and emotional centers.
“Even if a part of the brain is injured, it is still possible to have access to other regions,” he explains.
British charity Marie Curie studied 1,000 adults with loved ones who have received assistance in the final phase of life.
He concluded that listening to music together contributed to creating a shared experience that left them closer, generating a sense of normality and helping them could relax.
Kate experienced this experience personally. When Gilmore returned home after a long time in the hospital, he was anxious and exhausted, but he couldn’t sleep.
Desperate, he appealed to American native music, one of his husband’s favorite genres to relax. “And suddenly this agitated and anxious man started sleeping,” he recalls.
The nurse Diana Schad, by Marie Curie Nursing House in Glasgow, in Scotland, has 19 years of experience. And since he is also a musician, he has installed a piano for use by patients and volunteers.
Schad says it is important to consider the sensations awakened by music.
“Do you always have to ask you: is that what they would like to hear at that moment?” She explains.
How to make a good playlist for palliative care
- Concentrate on musical memories aged between 10 and 30, when the strongest associations are formed.
- You include songs related to special places, significant and important living events, such as young people, holidays, novels, first dances and wedding songs.
- Consider feelings awakened by the songs. They can be powerful as the memories associated with them.
- Remember that music can bring memories, even for people with conditions such as dementia, who connect various brain regions.
- Pay attention to unexpected musical connections as themes of the TV or commercial jingle program, which may have special meanings.
Source: CEO of the Music For Development Campaign, Sarah Metcalfe.
Experts agree that music can reduce anxiety and psychological pain, even when the person is unconscious.
Professor Sam Nurphy, of the Open University, in the United Kingdom, specializes in Tasmatology, scientific study on death and associated practices.
“Of course, there is evidence that hearing is the last sense to disappear,” he explains. “So even when someone is unconscious or does not react, music can still reach them.”
“Keeps the person connected to the environment around her, those who love, the feeling of being alive and memories they had.”
Lasting comfort
Music can also be useful for loved ones after a person’s death.
“I think it’s just another distraction for mourning people for a loved one,” says Murphy. “But there is a comfort to know that they are listening to something that the loved one would have listened over over the years.”
This is what happened with Anna-Kay Brocklesby. Her husband Ian died of prostate cancer in 2023.
As Ian’s health of Ian deteriorated, the sharing of his favorite songs became a fundamental part of the family mechanism to face the situation. This has become a way to keep the mood and remain positive, according to Brocklesby.
“Every morning he went down, prepared tea and played Oh, what a beautiful morning [‘Oh, que bela manhã’, em tradução livre]from the musical Oklahoma“Remember.
“And he sang aloud. He used music as a kind of mentality, and that’s how it will be today.”
They played songs by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Elton John, who offered comfort and connections.
They passed two years after the death of Ian and Anna-Kay Brocklesby still find comfort in the songs they listened to together.
“He lives with us in many ways,” he says, “but music can take us to a place with Ian.”
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
