“When I first brought iPods to nursing home residents in 2006, you couldn’t miss the smiles of delight as individuals were re-connected with “their” music. But when I would enthusiastically tell others just how transformative the music seemed to be, their response was “How nice that you are bringing the old people music.”
They didn’t get it. I thought, “If only I could film just a few minutes of these reactions so that they could see for themselves what I was seeing.”
Fast forward to 2014 . . .
The few minutes of filming I had envisioned turned into a 73-minute documentary, Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory. To our delight, Alive Inside just won the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. I think this speaks to the power of the film and its ability to touch the hearts and minds of viewers who then want to help spread the program in any way they can.
In the past year, we have grown nearly eight-fold, from 56 to 424 long-term care facilities that have completed our training program and introduced personalized music playlists to their residents. We are now expanding our reach to include not only nursing homes, but also assisted living facilities, adult day care centers, home health care programs and hospitals.
Our hope is that Alive Inside will continue to heighten awareness and result in widespread use of this simple yet profoundly effective innovation, by families and facilities alike. Thank you for your contribution and support to this process!”
Dan Cohen, MSW
Executive Director
