Jul 2019
Monkscroft Care Centre Case Study - Live Music in Care
Monkscroft Care Centre, operated by The Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT), participated in the ‘Choir in Every Care Home’ project with Live Music Now from November 2017 and completed 11 sessions with the Live Music Now musicians David and Louis.
David and Louis regularly visited Monkscroft providing interactive music sessions for residents and the team which proved to be a huge success. The team has gained valuable experience and confidence in arranging their own musical engagement with residents.
Charlotte Turville, OSJCT Care leader, said: “The project has boosted my confidence in engaging in impromptu singalongs and I feel I can happily go to the karaoke machine and singalong with the residents anytime during the day. It could be when we are sitting together in the lounge or at the beginning of meal times, which also supports in the dining experience, and I have also been able to share my experiences on the project with my colleagues.”
As a result of this, Charlotte and her team are now using music on a 1:1 basis with residents throughout the day and have recently created with residents their own choir which they will perform for resident’s families at Christmas. We have found that the project has really brought the care team and residents together.
Sabrina Trovato, a member of the OSJCT care team, expressed how she felt the value of the importance of music for residents and began to gain confidence throughout the project. She is now regularly involved in meaningful musical activities and is leading her own aromatherapy sessions through the confidence she gained.
The Activities Team have also been supported by resident’s families and team members to create French lessons, salsa classes, the mentioned aromatherapy sessions and much more for the benefit for residents.
The advantages to residents have been clear to see. Residents built new relationships with the musicians but also developed existing relationships with the care team. Residents enjoyed learning new songs with the team, sharing skills and gained their own confidence.
The sharing of skills was also a huge impact for residents and our team. One of the songs that the whole group really enjoyed was ‘Space is the place’. It was a new song that no one knew before and it was lovely to see everyone learning the song together from the beginning and appreciating what everyone brought to the song.
Sarah Davis, OSJCT Activity Coordinator commented: ‘It was great to see in between sessions that residents and the team were practicing the songs together.”
Even after a break it was wonderful to see residents picking up the newly learnt songs again especially for those living with dementia. Through the project it was amazing to see how this relationship between the care team and the residents grew.
The whole team was able to see how the project benefitted resident’s wellbeing. There was a definite individual positive impact for residents.
Another member of the OSJCT Care Team who was involved in the project was Dorota Lane who noticed that one resident who had minimal verbal communication particularly enjoyed one of the songs. Dorota began singing this song with them on a daily basis and she began to engage more during the project due to this encouragement. The resident now engages more so with the care team during the day through music which supports her wellbeing and is a meaningful activity for this resident.
Ewa Cwiklak, OSJCT Activity Coordinator, said: “Music is so powerful especially for those living with dementia. I attended a recent conference in Nottingham and shared the benefits from this project and what we were able to achieve at Monkscroft, I felt I empowered by those around me to use music more within their care settings.”
Bogumil Cwiklak, Monkscroft Home Manager, noted: “The team felt empowered and took ownership of the project for the benefit of the resident’s wellbeing. It is wonderful to see how residents and the team grew new skills. Everyone felt much more included in the home life.”
The impact of the project has been very clear to see with over 30 residents involved but overall the whole home has benefited from the experience.
Once the project came to an end the continued singing and music within Monkscroft has supported residents to continue to benefit from the skills and confidence gained by the project.
Residents are able to continue to engage in meaningful music activities with the care team as well as with volunteers and their family members.