High-quality concerts benefit both long-term care residents and staff
Locations: Five long-term care homes across Ontario
Music can help to bridge mental, physical, and emotional barriers, stimulate memories, and provide a way to communicate when language is more challenging. Music is part of the fabric of long-term care, be it recordings of classical songs played during meals or having a local performer provide entertainment to residents as part of the recreation programming calendar. Staff can connect with residents through music using song, rhythm, and movement as a common language and a safe place to meet.
In a recent project, a research team from the Sheridan Centre for Elder Research and the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging partnered with Concerts in Care Ontario (CiCO) to provide weekly concert series to five Ontario long-term care homes. Data were collected from both residents (observations) and staff (observations and questionnaires) to explore the potential benefits of these high-quality concerts performed by professional musicians.
Given how difficult the pandemic has been for staff working in long-term care, with high rates of burden and burnout and many staff members leaving the sector, it was particularly important to examine the experiences of staff to see whether these concerts could positively impact their well-being and their quality of work.
Results indicate that residents actively engaged in the performances by singing, clapping and moving to the music, and demonstrated appreciation and curiosity for the performers and their instruments.
Staff reported that the performances benefited their own social well-being and mood, provided additional ways of connecting with residents and colleagues, and helped them look forward to coming to work.
The performances were anticipated throughout the week, with team members looking up the artists and discussing upcoming performances with the residents in their care.
The magic of music is that it is not restricted to one room. or space, but rather can be shared easily throughout a neighbourhood. Even residents who prefer to stay in their own suites can listen to, and hopefully benefit from the performances.
While there are often musical opportunities in long-term care, this project was relatively unique in that we provided curated concert series to each individual home, taking into account the musical and linguistic needs and preferences of residents and staff, and offered a variety of performance modalities (e.g. performances on each unit, in a doorway of a resident suite, travelling down a hallway, in a large communal meeting space) to include as many residents and staff as possible.
This project speaks to embracing a person-centred approach when providing recreational opportunities in long-term care, and emphasizes the importance of connecting with and exploring the needs of staff and leadership at each site before beginning a new program. It is our hope that we can continue to expand our Concerts in Care Ontario program to long-term care homes across Ontario. with positive benefits for all those who reside in, work in and visit the homes.