What we do
Our vision
Our long term goals is for regular music to be integral to dementia care, with an in-house musician in every care home.
Our mission
We provide high quality music on a regular and on-going basis to create meaningful connections and improve residents’ well-being, to help care staff deliver and to provide a renewed sense of purpose and paid work for musicians.
Group sessions
Group sessions are a great way of creating a positive atmosphere and encouraging social interaction. Our group sessions are highly interactive and engage all residents on an individual basis according to their abilities. This includes waltzing (or armchair dancing) swaying, mirroring, eye-contact, singing along, reminiscence and sometimes the use of light-weight tambourines. The energy created in these sessions is wonderful and boosts not only the morale of the residents but the care staff too!
A group session lasts around 45 minutes. There is always a varied and balanced mixture of music, for example, foot tapping numbers, songs to shake instruments to, action songs, sing-along songs and music to waltz to. The sessions are highly interactive; everyone is encouraged to join in!
Individual sessions
Individual sessions are also available and provide an opportunity to build trust and personal rapport using music that is special to that person. This process over time enables the musicians to build a personalised song list for each resident which is absolutely unique to them.
Flexibility
We can offer a one off consultation to see how music can help in your home: either for an hour a week, or a regular group session, or perhaps a few hours with individuals.
Let us know and we can tailor our services to meet your requirements.
Training for staff
Care staff are the most important people in the home as they spend the most time with the residents. They are the ones who know them best. Our musicians will collaborate with your team and encourage them to join in with the songs. They will develop the skills to use songs with residents in all situations and learn best practice in encouraging them to engage in group sessions.
Documentation for CQC
All groups and individual sessions are written up, with the date, time, music used, responses and any other details of the session for inspection by the CQC. In addition, let us know how we can best feedback the information we have learned about residents during the session to your care staff team.
Resources
We can create personalised playlists for each individual resident through engaging with them and their families. Through asking specific questions we can find out the songs which are unique to them and trigger special memories and feelings for them. We will share this information with your staff with specific titles of pieces, enabling a continual access via a music platform such as Spotify or dementia radio. We can also assist staff in learning how to use the appropriate technology.
We can also provide a generic song list of the most popular songs according to the age-group of residents, with word-sheets for staff and families.
We will provide a video recording for a sing-along with karaoke words for use by the home (available as a DVD or on YouTube) and for activities staff to use on the days when the professional musician is not in.
Is it a free service?
No. Musicians provide a service in the same way as other providers and are highly skilled. However we want music to be affordable for every home. SHINE match funds your own contribution, from grant bodies, trusts and sponsorship.
It is good value because an hour of an 'entertainers' time may be more than half this.
There are lots of additional benefits too, such as detailed documentation for CQC, extra DVD / YouTube / playlist resources which the musician prepares in their own time, the cascade effect of positive mood on residents and staff, co-operation and better carer/resident relationships and many more benefits.
We want all homes to have the opportunity to have access to music so we make it affordable by tiering our offer to suit you.