New Area Manager for Musica West Midlands

With an ever increasing demand for care homes to engage and stimulate their residents, it can be a challenge to provide a variety of activities which is highly important for both the well-being of the residents and the reputation of the care home. Musica is fast becoming the answer to this concern and the business has recently launched with a new Area Manager in the West Midlands.

Musica offers affordable hour-long music workshops to care homes, taking residents on a musical journey from a gentle warm up, through to reminiscence, quizzes and singing – culminating in a live performance from talented, professional Musica Representatives. With clients ranging from large care home groups to small independent establishments, this unique business specialises in the care home market with the aim of stimulating residents and improving cognitive functions, providing a more active life for people in care homes. Due to the success in South West Musica has expanded into the West Midlands!       

Musica focuses on the well-being of older people and particularly specialises in the engagement of people with dementia. Musica is an active corporate partner of the Alzheimer’s Society and a member of the Dementia Action Alliance.

Christa Hugo, pictured, is joining the Musica team to run the West Midlands territory. She says “Musica was set up in 2010 by Rosanna Mead, and since then, it has grown rapidly. I am so excited to be taking on the running of Musica here, and really looking forward to meeting local homes and their residents”.

Christa studied music at the University of Southampton and qualified as a secondary school music teacher at Bath Spa University College. Christa is a highly skilled and experienced all-round musician and gained grade 8 distinctions in both piano and oboe at a young age. At all Musica sessions in the West Midlands she will be performing and very much hopes to share her passion for music with residents and activity coordinators alike.

As well as workshops, Musica also provides musicians for care homes looking to put on open days, fetes or special entertainment. To learn more about Musica, visit www.musica-music.co.uk or call Christa Hugo on 07941 108 342.

A Little Guide To Using Music As Part of Your Daily Care Routine

We believe that music can be integrated into part of the care package for people living with dementia. We have had many care homes asking for our advice on how to establish this integration, and so we have decided to produce a weekly blog post with tips on how to use music as part of your daily care routine. No musical experience is required!

During my current PhD research into the effects of music for people living with dementia, I have read about the use of music during morning care routines and I thought that this would be a good place to start.

Firstly, this should go without saying, chat with the person you are caring for about their favourite song/singer/style of music, did they used to go dancing? Did they ever play an instrument? If they didn’t play an instrument, what instrument would they have liked to play? Do they like to listen to the radio?

Make a note of their responses, remember musical taste is changeable dependent on our moods, so make sure you chat about their preference on a regular basis. Find some of the songs they mentioned or musical style.

Talk about things other than the task you are focussing on e.g. whilst you are helping them to put their shirt on you might like to talk about dancing, and what they would wear to dance in, play some dance music and help to put their shirt on as you talk about the piece. If it takes a little while to put the shirt on the person living with dementia may not become as frustrated as they might had they been getting ready in silence.  Music can be an excellent distraction.

If you find that the person you care caring for becomes agitated during washing, sing to them gentle easy songs that are easy to sing along with e.g. Que Serra Serra, Daisy Daisy, You are my Sunshine etc.  Use the music as a tool for communication, make sure you keep eye contact, and smile!

It is important that the music is not used in a patronising way, ensure that the person you are caring for has choice; are there any particular songs they would like to hear? Perhaps they wouldn’t like to hear music this morning? Everyone is entitled to make their own choices, be sure not to inflict your own preference onto the care situation.

The use of music for people living with dementia is a growing area of research, a small number of studies explore the use of music during care routines. Research conducted by Hammar et al (2010) shows that music therapeutic caregiving (MTC) – when caregivers sing for or together with PWD (persons with dementia) during caregiving activities – can enhance communication for people living with dementia and can evoke more vitality and positive emotions (Hammar et al 2010. Communicating through caregiver singing during morning care situations in dementia care.  Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences.)

We would love to hear whether you use music during morning care routines and whether you find it beneficial in other areas of care? Do you sing the same songs each day or do you add variety? We are looking to create a facebook group for carers and Activity Coordinators to enable everyone to discuss their experiences and ideas. If you would be interested in joining this group please contact us.

Have a great week. Rosanna

www.musica-music.co.uk

Musica Gift Voucher Launched

Stuck for What to Get your Loved One this Christmas?

Buy them an Interactive Musica Workshop!

It can be difficult knowing what to buy a loved one in a care home for Christmas or birthday celebrations. We are pleased to announce that we are now selling gift vouchers for a one hour Musica session; you can buy this for a chosen care home so that your loved one and their friends can benefit from an interactive and stimulating music workshop.

Due to the locations we are currently working in, gift vouchers can only be bought for sessions to be delivered in the following areas:

Dorset

Wiltshire

B&NES

Somerset

Hampshire

West Midlands

During December we are offering our workshops for just £40 (normal price £50) this includes a qualified facilitator and all resources. The voucher is valid for 6 months, allowing the care home time to book the session around other activities.

For more information contact Musica Head Office

Email: info@musica-music.co.uk

Tel: 01202 348 038

How a Graduate Employing Graduates Led to a Successful Music Business

Read our latest press release in the Bath Spa University Alumni Magazine - Spartan.
http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/about-us/alumni/magazine

Guest Blog - Claire Selbie

I had a great response to my blog post last week – What Music Will you Listen to When You are 80 – I will share some of the responses through tweets and facebook posts.This week I am pleased to share a guest post with you, written by our very own Claire Selbie (owner, Musica Westmidlands), sharing her memorable songs.

“The beauty of music is that it is so evocative. There are so many songs that will always take me back to a particular time in my life and that remind me of special people. Here’s a whistle-stop tour through some of my favourites:

Stranger on the Shore (Mr Acker Bilk) – One of my earliest memories is of hearing my Grandad play this on the piano. Since then, it has remained a favourite – these days I play along on the flute!

Brimful Of Asha (Cornershop) – I have a vivid memory of listening to this song with my oldest friend, Naomi in her bedroom. She’d bought the single (possibly the first one she’d bought?) on TAPE! We must have been about 7/8 and were playing with our teddy bears (cute). Whenever I go out and hear this song, it reminds me of her.

Wonderwall (Oasis) – Growing up with two older brothers, this was played loud and often in our house when I was growing up.

Under Cover of Darkness (The Strokes) – This song was my savoir in late night essay writing sessions in my last year of uni.  It reminds me of too much coffee, notes spread all over my bedroom floor, back-ache from sitting at my desk for too long and sleep-deprivation!

I’m A Cuckoo (Belle and Sebastian) – I’ll finish with this song which brings back lovely memories of dancing around the Big Top tent at Bestival this summer with some great people. Listening back to it makes me feel happy, strong and free.”

Please keep sharing your thoughts with us!

Rosanna Mead

www.musica-music.co.uk

What Songs Will You Listen to When You Are 80?

One of my all time favourite things to do is sink into a big bubble bath, with a glass of wine listening to music that brings back happy memories; one song in particular that I like to listen to is ‘Better Together’ by Jack Johnson. This is mine and my husband’s song, and the music for our first dance at our wedding.

Last night as I listened to Athlete’s album ‘Vehicles and Animals’ I began reminiscing about my teenage years, remembering the stresses and strains of the dreaded GCSE exams and of longing to be an independent young woman. I love being in this state, letting my mind drift away to times gone past. This got me thinking about our Musica workshops and our emphasis on the use of stimulating music to promote memory recall; I wondered ‘what songs would I like to hear when I am 80?’ I am sure that the Spice Girls would appear in my top playlist, maybe Aerosmith, Guns and Roses or even S Club 7 (I have quite an eclectic taste!)

I find it fascinating to see the shift in musical tastes already changing within the older generation, gone are the days of singing Vera Lynn songs, instead residents are requesting Cliff Richard, Tom Jones and the Beatles. In the not too distant future I’m sure we will hear the Rolling Stones playing in care homes across the country!

Today’s blog post is the start of a new weekly feature  entitled ‘ Memory Lane’ where we are going to post songs that bring back significant memories for our facilitators and participants. We would love to hear about your own musical memories so please contact us with suggestions to go in our blog, stating the song title, artist and what memories it evokes for you.

So start thinking.... ‘What songs would I like to listen to when I am 80?’ Please share this; it would be great to hear everyone’s song choices, and of course you can submit more than one song!

Have a great week!

Rosanna x

Musica is expanding!

Welcome to the first blog from Musica.

We are pleased to announce that our Musica team is growing!

A big welcome to Joel and Natasha who will be running Musica workshops across Hampshire; watch out for our latest press release about our work in Southampton.

We are sad to say goodbye to Matt who has been running Musica B&NES; Matt is moving to London where he will be studying for a Master's Degree in Music; we wish you the best of luck Matt! As Matt moves on we welcome Stuart who is currently assisting Matt and will take over Musica B&NES from September.

We are in the process of lots of exciting developments which will be featured in our next newsletter.

If you would like to know more about Musica please feel free to contact us.

Rosanna Mead (Director)
www.musica-music.co.uk
info@musica-music.co.uk