Welcome to TACPAC and pilot study information for using TACPAC for people living with Dementia

TACPAC draws together touch and music to create a structured half hour of sensory communication between two people. TACPAC creates sensory alignment and helps people of any age who have sensory impairment, for example, visual impairment, developmental delay, complex learning difficulties, Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) or limited or pre-verbal levels of communication.

We are looking for participants for a forthcoming pilot study using TACPAC with people living with dementia.

TACPAC is a sensory communication resource for people with sensory processing disorder. TACPAC draws together touch and music to create a structured half hour of sensory communication between two people. TACPAC has benefitted thousands of adults over the past 20 years.

For the Receivers

Stimulate the senses: seeing, hearing, touching
Stimulate emotional responses, especially pleasure
Promote social connections and relationship
Improve quality of life by reducing depression, anxiety, agitation, irritability, and isolation.
Giving an easier and more accessible means of communication – through the sense of music and touch.

For the Givers

Easy to set up and do
Repeatable – can become part of routine
Positive response from receiver
Happier receivers
Better relationships with receivers
Something meaningful to do with receivers

Goals of the pilot study project

To confirm that using TACPAC, with a trained partner, will give the person living with Dementia (the receiver) a half hour of personalised, meaningful communication to both relax them, and enhance the quality of the quality of the relationship
To confirm that using TACPAC as a giver, will provide a means to a meaningful and easily accessed communication method, namely a sensory communication.

Timeline

Each session will last approximately ½ hour. Approximately 10 sessions.

Resources

All partners will be instructed by myself, Hilary Wainer, Creator of TACPAC
All partners will receive a training session and resources from myself before we include the partners of those living with Dementia.
Training and support will continue throughout the study.

Ending the project

We aim to end the project at the end of March 2024.

Contact us

If you are interested in our pilot study using TACPAC with people with dementia then please fill in the form opposite and we will be in touch.

I found the training was delivered well and matched my school’s cohort very well. It was thought provoking and gave me many ideas on how this can be rolled out and introduced. It also enabled me to get a clearer idea around the intent and the purpose of TAC PAC as a communication strategy and how this can be explained to outside agencies such as ofsted.

Cheryl Louis, Treehouse School

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole training day from start to finish. Vanessa was an amazing instructor and pitched the course well with both theory and practical. She was extremely helpful in answering questions relating to my context and I can’t thank her enough. I feel confident in taking this intervention forward in my class of complex P1 learners.

Charlotte Johnstone Teacher Park School

It was really informative. I would encourage parents and other professional to go through Tac Pac training. Found it really innovative. Most surprising fact that it can be done with household simple stuff and doesn’t need to be expensive, very much handy and easy to use for parents/other caregiver and professionals.

Online Training Delegate,

The learning of the importance of the beat and uncovering some of the myths that we had previously been doing in our school so now they can be corrected. I feel I can relay the appropriate content learnt to other staff within my setting now.

Eimear Corrigan, Teacher,, Palmerstone School, Liverpool

I have been working with children with special needs for the past seven years. I have been amazed at the transformation in children who have been exposed to Tacpac. As there are no trainers that I know of in the Perth area, I am interested in becoming a trainer to enable more children to reap the benefits of this wonderful program.

SEN teacher

Hilary, You have given much joy to many with your creation of Tacpac. You really have made a difference to the lives of many children and their families.

Sue Murray,BLENNZ School, New Zealand

Well delivered. I like that even though this training was virtual it still felt very interactive and a safe place to ask questions and have discussions. I do feel like I have the knowledge and skills to begin TACPAC ‘properly’ now (or at least after a few more practice sessions on my niece). Thank you very much.

Emily Parham, Speech & Language Therapist, OXLEAS

The activities were brilliant for being able to practise the movements to the music in a supportive environment. There was no part of the course that I didn’t enjoy and from which I didn’t learn. Although I have used TACPAC before, I hadn’t considered the importance of unknown music without any connotations attached to it for the receiver. This now makes perfect sense and was a revelation!

Ashley Chambers, Portage Practitioner, Kent

Great working with you all

Dom Knight, Oxfordshire Web Services

I messaged my manager during the break to tell her how amazing the training course is; I didn’t expect it to go into as much detail as it did. I liked how the course went into detail about the function of the Limbic System in relation to behaviour and response. I now want to do more research into the physiological aspects of behaviour in Autism to work on positive behaviour support within our homes

Tracey Hamilton, Homes Manager , Albrighton Care