A new collaboration between Age Scotland, Playlist for Life and the Scottish Ethnic Minority Older People Forum (SEMOPF) aims to ‘enrich the lives’ of older adults in Scotland’s South Asian communities by highlighting the connection between music and memory.

The ‘Bollywood Memories’ Playlist project focused on creating a tailored playlist of songs to help older people from South Asian communities engage with their own ‘playlist for life’ by thinking about the music that is important to them.

The collaboration between Age Scotland, Playlist for Life and the Scottish Ethnic Minority Older People Forum (SEMOPF) worked with South Asian communities across Scotland, to gather Bollywood songs connected to their meaningful memories.

Rohini Sharma Joshi, Age Scotland’s Diversity and Inclusion Manager who spearheaded the project, said:

“We were delighted to collaborate with Playlist for Life on this exciting new project. We all have those particular songs that evoke memories and bring happiness, and over recent years the link between music and wellbeing has become increasingly apparent.”

Alongside community groups, individuals from across Scotland fed into the playlist through Age Scotland’s Ethnic Minority Older People Forum (SEMOPF).

This forum works to influence policy change by challenging inequality and discrimination faced by ethnic minority older people, including the impact of isolation, loneliness and barriers to accessing information and services.

Comprising almost 15 hours of music, the final playlist ‘Bollywood Favourites’ features a total of 186 songs.

At an official launch event in November, with guests including Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar MSP and Foysol Choudhury MSP, attendees were able to share their own memories of Bollywood and connect over the powerful effects of music while listening to live performances.

Rohini Sharma Joshi added:

“The Bollywood Memories playlist is something different and goes further than simply talking about music, and the launch event was a brilliant opportunity to come together to enjoy singing and discover more about how beneficial music can be for health and wellbeing, particularly as we get older.

“Working with so many individuals and community groups across Scotland has helped us create a unique resource that we hope will be useful, accessible and, most importantly, enjoyable for older people.”

While this project focused on improving mental wellbeing by connecting older people to their communities and memories through music, Helen Skinner, Alzheimer’s Scotland Dementia Nurse Consultant for NHS Fife has shared how Playlist for Life can also help dementia patients in 2021.

Since then, research inspired by Playlist for Life found that playing along to music improves both mental health and memory for people living with dementia.

Playlist for Life’s Policy and Public Affairs Officer, Dr Mehar Shagufta said:

"It was wonderful to work with SEMOPF and we’re so grateful to Rohini for gathering these Bollywood favourites and tunes that bring back personally meaningful memories for people of South Asian heritage.

“It was a joy to witness the performances and see everyone singing along to their favourite tunes.

“We encourage everyone to listen to the playlist and hope that it sparks cherished memories and brings you joy!”

Read more: Music's potential to help with dementia; Using VR to understand lived experience of dementia; Healthy ageing project receives funding boost; Action needed on women's brain health; Voices of experience key to dementia care; Scots invited to take part in bipolar light study

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