Olivia Gomez sings with a resident at Morel Court, Penarth care home during a Live Music in Care session. Credit: Robin Norman
LMN Wales is launching ”Live Music in Care” (“Cerddoriath Fyw mewn Gofal”) at the Welsh Assembly, to coincide with National Day of Arts in Care Homes on Tuesday 24 September 2019 from 12:00-15:00 at the Media Briefing Room, Senedd, Cardiff Bay.
“Live Music in Care” is an ambitious initiative to bring music to all care settings throughout Wales and the UK, to address the needs of older people, particularly those living with dementia, and their carers.
It was created by Live Music Now and the University of Winchester, working with 35 national organisations, funded by the Baring Foundation, with support from Arts Council Wales. The Live Music in Care report demonstrates the impact of live music participation for people living and working in care home settings. Amongst several other care homes, residents and staff at MHA Morel Court, Penarth took part in the study.
“Live Music Now Wales provides over 350 of music workshops through the country each year which prove the benefits of performing live music in care. The Live Music in Care report highlights the urgent need for us to support care homes which do not yet have access to these opportunities.”
– Dame Rosemary Butler, Chair of Live Music Now Wales
Speakers at the event include:
Dame Rosemary Butler, Live Music Now Wales, Chair
Jayne Bryant AM, Chair Arts & Health Cross Party Group
Evan Dawson, Executive Director, LMN
Adam Hessledine, Manager, Woffington House Care Home
Sarah Edwards, Artist in Residence, Pendine Park Care
With a performance by: Olivia Gomez (Mezzo Soprano), Joseph Cavalli-Price (Piano)
Free training: From 2pm-3pm there will be FREE training for Care Home Staff, providing an introduction to using music within care homes
Limited tickets for the Live Music in Care – Live Music Now Wales Launch are available at: https://livemusicincarewales.eventbrite.co.uk
The event will also be live streamed on Live Music Now’s Facebook page from 12:00pm here: https://www.facebook.com/livemusicnow/
LIVE MUSIC IN CARE is the result of a research enquiry that has been supported by 35 national organisations in the social care and arts sectors, working together since 2015 under the banner ‘A Choir in Every Care Home’, funded by the Baring Foundation.
Over the past three years, the group 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. However, they also found there was limited evidence available about how music programmes can impact on a whole care home.
So, from June 2017 to August 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.
The independently evaluated results showed significant impacts for everyone involved, concluding that “carefully delivered music can provide significant benefits for older people, care staff and care settings, contributing to person-centred care”.
As well as recommending that music should be “essential” for all care homes, the report makes a series of practice recommendations about choosing suitable repertoire, the appropriate use of percussion and the importance of managerial support and careful planning.
The full report and a short 4-page summary can be downloaded in Welsh and English here: www.livemusicincare.org.uk
Main project partners and funders: Live Music Now, The University of Winchester, MHA, The Orders of St John Care Trust, The Baring Foundation, The Utley Foundation, The Royal British Legion, the UK Treasury’s LIBOR funds, Sound Sense, Canterbury Christchurch and Arts Council Wales
Live Music Now was founded in 1977 by violinist Yehudi Menuhin to realise his twin ambitions of nurturing young musicians at the outset of their career and bringing the joy of live music to all. Each year, Live Music Now delivers thousands of music workshops throughout the UK – in hospitals, care homes, special schools and communities. There are over 320 musicians on the LMN scheme at any time, who are trained based on the latest medical, educational and healthcare research. Since they started, Live Music Now has given over 75,000 interactive music sessions, for over 2.8 million people.
The Welsh branch of Live Music Now reaches communities and schools in every county of Wales with over 350 different performances a year. Notable Welsh musicians who have been on the scheme include pianist Llyr Williams, MD Tim Rhys Evans, and Royal Harpist Anne Denholm. In 2016 Sir Bryn Terfel joined Live Music Now Wales as an Ambassador, having seen first-hand the benefits of bringing exceptional live music to those most excluded in society through his partner and former Harpist to HRH Prince of Wales, Hannah Stone, who was on the scheme in Wales for over 4 years performing in hospitals, care homes and schools across the cou
