RALEIGH, N.C. — A free program is bringing joy to people with memory issues through music. 

The Music and Memory at Home program, by the Dementia Alliance of N.C., provides a customized playlist, speaker, SanDisk and headphones to anyone with dementia living with their caretaker at home. 


What You Need To Know

  • There are 180,000 people in North Carolina with some form of dementia, according to Dementia Alliance of N.C.

  • The Music and Memory at Home program is free for those with dementia living with their caretaker at home

  • The kits includes a personalized playlist and speaker

Sylvia Gani of Raleigh participates in the program to help her husband Bob.

"He speaks several languages, so a lot of the music is also in French and Italian, in Arabic. When he was able, he he got up and danced," Sylvia Gani said. 

During their 49-year marriage, the pair had a family and owned a travel business. 

But Bob Gani's unexpected memory issues changed their pace. 

“Certainly with the dementia from 2017 through to today. And of course, that combined with the Parkinson's diagnosis, it's been progressively in decline," Sylvia Gani said.

Gani says the program has been beneficial for her husband.

"It's been quite an asset with respect to bringing out emotions. And I'm sure most of those are joyful. There's never been any tears," Sylvia Gani said. "There's been singing, there's been toe tapping."

Sylvia Gani says her husband has always been a music lover, and thanks to this program, his diagnosis hasn’t put a stop to his favorite melodies.

“I'm just delighted to have to have been a recipient of it for him," Sylvia Gani said.