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Workshop Presenters
• Emma Hewat
Dementia Pioneer, Dementia UK
• Caroline Welsh
Freelance Musician, Music for Life
• Lucy Payne
Freelance Musician, Music for Life
History of Music for Life
• Founded by Linda Rose in 1993
• Jewish Care, growing team of musicians
• Managed by Wigmore Hall in partnership with
national charity Dementia UK
• Partnerships include: Jewish Care, NHS
Westminster and Westminster Adult and
Community Services, Brighton Dome and
Festival, Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution
(RMBI)
What is Music for Life?
What is Music for Life?
• 3 interlinked elements: Participants living with
dementia, Musicians, Care Staff
• 8 people with dementia
• 5 members of staff
• 3 professional musicians
• 8 week intervention
• 1 hour workshop, 1 hour debrief
People Living with Dementia
• Enhance quality of life of people living with
dementia
• Draw out individuals, enhance communication
and build relationships
Themes
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Importance of non-verbal communication
Discovering residents life history
Taking control
Leadership
‘Enabling’ rather than ‘doing for’
Respecting choices and individual preferences
Music unlocking feelings
Creating a sense of belonging
Challenges
• Some positive and difficult stories
• Residents awareness of losses
Musicians
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Sessions framed by theme
Musical improvisation
Spontaneity, respond to needs of the group,
in that moment
Generate music collaboratively with the
participants
Using percussion, voice or through inviting
them to direct the music making
Challenges
• Multiple layers of meaning occurring at any one
moment
• Being responsive and flexible, musically and
personally
• Skilled interpreters: picking up on signals,
reading between the lines, prioritising the
development of a connection, and adopting the
right approach
Inspiring Model for Care Workers
• Team work
• Non-verbal communication: verbal articulation in
reflection
• Supporting and valuing participants’ musical offerings,
however small
• Finding effective creative solutions in difficult moments
• Musicians brilliant at enabling participants to make
choices, and to feel confident about their contributions
Care Staff
• Develop person centred approach to dementia
care
• Engage on an emotional level
• Effective Staff development tool
Benefits of M4L to staff
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Space for observation and reflection
Develop confidence and initiative
Greater sense of team working
Broader understanding of the needs of
residents through discovery of their histories,
interests and strengths
• Enjoy their time at work
Staff Feedback
• ‘I enjoyed watching them enjoying it, taking
part, exploring’
• ‘I’m no longer afraid of him’
• “It’s ok just to do something that seems foolish,
it can have a really positive effect”
Conclusion
• Improves the quality of life of those in the end
stage of dementia
• Develops workforce (NDS Objective 13)
• Raising awareness (NDS Objective 1)
• Challenges pre-conceptions of people with
dementia
• Demonstrates personhood in people in the
later stages of dementia
Interactive Music Session
For further information please contact
• Kate Whitaker
Music for Life Project Manager
Wigmore Hall
k.whitaker@wigmore-hall.org.uk