Music making in the community with people living with dementia and care partners – ‘I’m leaving feeling on top of the world’

Smith, SK; Innes, A; Bushell, S

Abstract

Evidence exists relating to music-based initiatives and positive health outcomes for people living
with dementia who can access them. Yet, knowledge about the impact of ‘music-making’ on the
wellbeing of community dwelling people with dementia is limited. Much of the existing evidence
about the benefits of music is focused on care home settings where initiatives can be readily applied
as part of a weekly schedule of activities. Therefore, this initiative aimed to provide opportunities to
participate in music-making, to increase social interaction and ultimately wellbeing in a community
environment. Ten music-making session were scheduled for community dwelling people living with
dementia and care-partners, once a month between September 2019 and March 2020. Three
sessions did not take place due to Covid19. Eighteen participants consented to take
part including 7 people living with dementia, 5 care-partners and 6 former care-partners. Baseline
semi-structured interviews explored the lived experience of music and expectations of the
upcoming music-making cafes. Self-report questionnaires captured ‘in the moment’ experiences of
each music-making cafe. Follow-up semi-structured interviews explored the impact of music-making
on participants self-reported wellbeing. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed
thematically. The findings demonstrate that participating in the music-making café benefitted
the self-reported wellbeing of participants in three ways: first, a sense of camaraderie that enabled
the facilitation of connections with others; second, creating opportunities to ‘level the playing field’
by always assuming a person’s strengths and abilities; third, group participation in musicmaking meets a need for meaningful musical experiences. We conclude that participating in musicmaking is a powerful medium to promote wellbeing for community dwelling people living with
dementia and care-partners.

Citation

Smith, S., Innes, A., & Bushell, S. (2022). Music making in the community with people living with dementia and care partners – ‘I’m leaving feeling on top of the world’. Health and Social Care in the Community, 30(1), 114-123. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13378

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 3, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Apr 6, 2021
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 3, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 15, 2021
• Journal: Health and Social Care in the Community
• Print ISSN: 0966-0410
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2524
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 114-123
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13378
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13378
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2524