Project title
Description of initiative
Live Music in Care is a research enquiry that emerged from the campaign ‘A Choir in Every Care Home’, supported by 35 national organisations in the social care and arts sectors. From 2015-2017, they surveyed the many creative ways that older people engage with music, and explored why the majority of care homes do not regularly offer this opportunity. They found a wealth of evidence supporting the use of music for older people, particularly for those living with dementia. The also found there was limited evidence available about how music programmes can impact on a whole care home. So, between 2017-2018, Live Music Now and the University of Winchester worked in partnership with MHA (Methodist Homes) and The Orders of St John Care Trust to investigate the impact of music on residents, staff and the whole care home environment.
This project sought to evaluate an intervention comprising an 11-session interactive weekly music programme, including training for staff, in five care homes in the UK.
The programme was delivered by Live Music Now. The programme focussed on singing and the use of voice, led by pairs of trained professional musicians for 45 minutes
each week. A mixed methods approach was used to evaluate this programme.
Further information on the initiative
Themes: Culture and...
Keywords
Target group
Cultural field
Timeframe
Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt
The results of the programme and research emphasize that:
- participating and delivering a music intervention to residents in care homes can provide positive social experiences as well as creative engagement, fun and a sense of achievement.
- musicians can play an important role in nurturing the well-being of elderly people in care.
- regular music making can enhance the working and living environment for care home residents and staff.
- music interventions can play a crucial role in awakening a sense of identity and empowerment for care home residents, facilitated by musicians and care teams working together.
- strategic planning at the outset establishes an essential structure and definition of tasks that provides a framework for the music programme