A pianist who provides music therapy in care homes says he finds it “heart-jerking” to be able to use his talents to help dementia patients. Mark Russell began to play the piano to help people in the care home where he works and found music could often make a big difference to them. Now he also takes his portable piano to dementia patients, with some able to play and sing along with him.
Mark, 53, who lives in Brighton , said: “One of the ladies I play to doesn’t speak and just stares into space – but the first time I played to her she looked up, smiled and said, ‘I like that one’. “Emotion is one of the last things that people hold on to. Music clings to that emotion and brings back the memory of those emotions.
“Last month I played for someone in their final days and that was very emotional for me and the family. Many families can’t say enough good things about it. "When I'm at the home playing for individual residents and seeing their responses it's heart-jerking.
" Read More: ‘Genius’ - MasterChef’s John Torode reveals ‘golden tip’ for cooking Sunday roast Mark, a former cruise ship pianist, began playing the organ at about four or five before moving to the piano but retired from playing professionally because his hands “weren’t as good as they were”. But after picking the piano back up in his job at a care home, Mark has now branched out to set up his own business , Piano Key Memories, taking the music to patients in the community. Musi.