Kaylie Glenn, founder of the Day By Day Project, founded her nonprofit organization at the age of 14. Credit: Alana Lindenfeld Photography
With a recent neuroscience degree and a lifelong love for music, Ohio State alum Kaylie Glenn aims to transform memory care for those with dementia through music.
In 2015, when Glenn was 14, she founded the Day by Day Project, a nonprofit organization that engages dementia patients through music. It promotes active listening while providing multisensory experiences and improving mood and behavior, according to the organization’s website.
While being the first group in the country to engage patients through silent discos, known as the Memory Disco program, the nonprofit is made up of over 150 volunteers across Ohio.
“We have a responsibility to remember the lives of those around us every single day so that for as long as they may forget, we will always remember them,” Glenn said.
Glenn said the discos involve patients wearing headphones that are all playing the same music, providing a community experience that often results in dancing and participants singing along.
The inspiration behind the project’s initiative began when Glenn was just 10 years old, playing violin for memory care patients at a facility where her mother worked. Glenn said she saw the transformative effect music had on those with dementia, and her interest in the disease began.
“I realized that the point of life for me was to live for others,” Glenn said. “Even if I’m not playing the violin, I still feel like I’m giving music to people and every single day I’m really grateful for that.”
Glenn said her fascination inspired her to study neuroscience to understand the science behind dementia and work to bring the healing power of music to patients.
“I was seeing these people have moments of awareness and awakening,” Glenn said. “I could see that they were so clearly still there.”
Glenn said she saw major progress with one specific patient, a former conductor, who was in the later stages of dementia and could no longer speak. The patient spent most of his days silently sitting in the corner of the gathering room with a restricted ability to connect with friends and family members.
Once the patient put on the headphones used for the Memory Disco, Glenn said his entire demeanor changed.
“When we played Frank Sinatra, [the patient] would stand up, arms in the sky, and start conducting,” Glenn said. “You could see that he could feel all of these emotions and memories rushing through his body, and he just [had] no control over anything but feeling that music.”
Glenn now works full-time as president of the Day By Day Project, dedicating time to both interact with memory care patients and conduct research-driven work. Currently pursuing research for the occupational therapy program at Cleveland State University, Glenn said the organization works to donate as many memory disco packages as they can for lower-income communities.
“That’s been a really fulfilling project we’ve been working on, of being able to hand people a tool that can transform the way they are doing care for years to come,” Glenn said. “That’s really fun.”
According to Anish Ganesh, vice president of the Day By Day Project, Glenn’s ability to genuinely care for and interact with dementia patients sets her apart from other leaders in the nonprofit community.
“She makes everyone feel like they’re authentic friends,” Ganesh said. “You can just see there’s a connection with every person she’s able to come across.”
Glenn said her success was only made possible by the support and collaboration with medical professionals, neurologists and caregivers in the dementia world who taught her much about the effect the condition has on the brain, as well as provided discussion on how she can improve the system of care for these patients.
“I have so many incredible people that are looking out for me and guiding me in this journey,” Glenn said.
Glenn said Bonnie Burman, the president of The Ohio Council for Cognitive Health, is one of the individuals who helped guide and mentor her.
Burman said she and her colleagues have learned many things from Glenn’s involvement and research in dementia care, which have been shared with many dementia care professionals across Ohio due to Glenn’s unconventional approach to dementia treatment.
Berman said their process of caring for dementia patients included meeting the individual in their world. She said Glenn agreed with this methodology but also believed caretakers could bring patients back into our world using music.
“I believe she has helped change the frame of leadership in dementia care for Ohio,” Burman said. “She won’t just have a local or state impact, but Kaylie will change our little part of the world.”
For Glenn, she said the work she does provides a meaning to her life that encourages her to fully involve herself in her work.
“I think the question everyone needs to ask themselves is, ‘Why do you do what you do?’” Glenn said. “‘If you could make someone smile by living in the moment with them, does this mean anything to you?’ And for me, living in the moment with these people feels very good.”
