How to Use Music to Calm, Connect and Engage Someone With Dementia
From Guilt to Good with Jeanette Yates · Sep 8, 2026 · 43:54
From Guilt to Good with Jeanette Yates
From Guilt to Good with Jeanette Yates · Sep 8, 2026 · 43:54
Listen in the Podli app 🎧
Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.
Most caregivers already know music can be comforting. But there’s a big difference between putting on a favorite playlist and intentionally using music as a caregiving tool.
Jeanette talks with board-certified music therapist and SingFit co-founder Andy Tubmann about how active singing, rhythm and movement can help caregivers connect with someone living with dementia.
Andy shares what he learned professionally after more than 25 years working with music therapy—and personally while serving as the primary caregiver for his mother throughout an eight-to-ten-year dementia journey.
They explore why active music-making can create a different level of engagement than passive listening, how singing can still be used when verbal communication is declining, and why caregivers should match their loved one’s emotional state instead of immediately trying to change it.
Andy also explains how SingFit uses age, musical preferences, goals and guided song sequences to help caregivers create more intentional sessions—including sessions designed around reducing agitation.
This isn’t about curing dementia.
It’s about having another practical tool to create connection, comfort, stimulation and moments of meaningful engagement throughout the dementia journey.
Andy Tubman is a board-certified music therapist and the co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer of SingFit. He has spent more than 25 years developing, researching and teaching techniques that use music intentionally in care.
His expertise is also deeply personal. Andy served as the primary caregiver for his mother during her eight-to-ten-year journey with dementia, integrating music into daily routines ranging from car rides and activities to interactions with professional caregivers.
Resources / Links
SingFit
SingFit Caregiver App: Available through SingFit’s website
Jeanette Yates / The Self-Caregiver
NOW AVAILABLE! From Guilt To Good Enough: A Caregiver’s Journey of Overcoming Burnout Through Healing Childhood by Jeanette Yates. Having been a caregiver for her mother since childhood, Jeanette knows firsthand the emotional toll caregiving can take. In this memoir-turned-self-help guide, she shares her journey of healing, setting boundaries, and reclaiming her life. Click here to purchase your copy!
At The Self-Caregiver LLC we guide women caring for their aging parents overcome burnout and release guilt to create more freedom and fulfillment in their life.
We believe you cannot give more of yourself until you heal the wounds, replenish your being and reconnect to the fullness of who you are, embracing the purpose you‘ve been called to live.
Episodes: From Guilt to Good with Jeanette Yates
