A music programme for older people has had extensive positive results, but a new report has found that it is still critically under-funded, writes Áine Kerr
A five-year programme offering participative music workshops to older people that has had extensive positive outcomes, remains critically under-funded and overlooked, according to a new report.
The Music in Healthcare project between Music Network, the national music development agency, and the Midland Health Board (HSE Midland Area) has succeeded in invigorating residential settings and day care centres through music, it says.
Successive positive physical, psychological and emotional changes in patients were attributed to the high-level activity of the workshops, according to the Music in Healthcare evaluation report, published yesterday. Music appreciation and musical performance was found to have improved participants' mobility, communication, concentration, energy levels, sense of enjoyment and anticipation.
Aside from the merits of the project, the evaluation report also highlights the necessity for a national policy for arts and health and direct funding for the music in healthcare sector.
To date, the project has received 40 per cent of its annual funding from the HSE, while the remainder was applied for through the National Lottery and other funding agencies.
Despite these funding difficulties, the collaborative relationship between the HSE and Music Network has succeeded in enhancing social interaction between older persons and it also provides them with a homely setting, according to Deirdre McCrea, chief executive of Music Network.
"Some might have been sitting beside each other every day in a room and hardly uttered a word. These workshops gave them something to talk about . . . then with the new faces coming in to engage with them and encourage participation, it offered something different to the normal day," says McCrea.
Due to the necessity to apply for funding through a range of bodies, workshops are sometimes cancelled due to budgetary cuts or a delay in acquiring funding. This lack of direct funding and the subsequent cancellations disrupts the progress of some workshops, according to McCrea.
Yesterday's evaluation report concludes that the arts and health sector remains unorganised and largely invisible.
Added to this, music in healthcare straddles two sectors, and so, policy-makers from each can assume that the other should be responsible for its development.
"Following on from the lack of priority given to arts and health by either sector at national level, there is a lack of support structures available to those involved. There is no central agency co-ordinating information, networking, research or resource development," the report states.
Also noted is the high degree of ageism in society, which may affect the musicians, healthcare staff and participants involved in the project and also affect decision-making and policy formation at every level.
"It is also a contributory factor in the general lack of priority given to creating positive change in this regard," the report continues.
Over the course of the Music in Healthcare pilot project, 21 professional performers encouraged older people to engage actively and creatively with music. The most recent round of workshops in counties Westmeath, Meath, Longford and Laois involved 275 people aged from their late 50s to early 90s.
In St Mary's Care Centre in Mullingar, music workshops were ongoing from 1999 to 2005, according to Mary Daly, a clinical nurse specialist. "The patients really looked forward to it, it was something so different that wasn't entertainment but instead encouraged participation . . . the patients loved it, just loved it," says Daly.
One project involved creating an autumn poem and adding musical sounds which matched the lyrics. "We went down to the lake and collected bags and bags of leaves . . . it brought the outside world in," she adds.
Nursing staff also undertook a series of awareness days in an effort to learn how better to encourage patient creativity. "I've learned an awful lot," says Daly. "My repertoire has grown and I'd be more creative now than I was in 1999."
Traditionally, however, a consistent arts programme has been relatively absent from hospitals and care communities, leaving initiatives to be organised on an ad-hoc basis.
Where projects succeeded in becoming established in health settings, strategic development was slow because of the reliance on the enthusiasm of just one or two committed individuals and the insufficient funding available.
Director of services to older people within the Dublin/Midlands area, Margaret Feeney, says the project's participative workshops have enhanced the quality of life of older persons and also created a phase of new learning for the staff.
Music workshops helped participants to relax and, in some cases, to sleep better. Other participants' fine motor skills and co-ordination improved through tapping out rhythms and playing various instruments, which helped strengthen muscles and improve dexterity. Levels of communication and self- esteem also improved.
Such was the success of the programme that a musician in residence post is soon to be advertised for the Midlands region. This new phase will be managed locally, with Music Network operating in an advisory role in accordance with the evaluation report's recommendations for increased local management and community involvement.
The report has now recommended that all directors of nursing appoint an activities co-ordinator to drive the Music in Healthcare programme and with sufficient time and resources to make it work effectively. The HSE Midlands Area has also been advised to re-establish an annual arts fund with a percentage dedicated to resources such as instruments and music books.