Music for the soul

Registered Music Therapist Alice has made great strides with residents at Pearl Supported Care by engaging them with uplifting music and encouraging active participation, especially from those who were previously uninvolved.

Alice is a gentle therapist with a focus on person-centred and evidence-based care, using music as a resource for people across different levels of health.

Alice builds partnerships with people, their families, and support staff, to find ways that music can be a resource for their well-being.

Although the initial groups were small, Alice’s sessions at Pearl have now grown to include eight to ten residents each.

There are smiles and singing all around.

 She primarily visits residents in the memory support wing.

Along with a change in care model, residents’ moods have improved significantly in this area, and we believe that Alice's music appreciation activities have played a major role in this progress.

One particularly successful story involves a resident named Jane.

Jane began her music therapy journey with Alice in September, and the first session went exceptionally well.

With her voice impacted significantly by Multiple Sclerosis, Jane’s ability to interact with others is limited.

Finding activities that foster a sense of community and social engagement for her has been challenging.

During their initial session, the therapist introduced song recreation and reminiscing using the 1962 Bob Dylan hit ‘Blowin' in the Wind’. 

Jane participated by singing the chorus of one song and expressed a desire to listen to more Bob Dylan songs throughout the session. 

She enjoyed the harmonica in the recordings, frequently smiling and commenting, "Lovely".

After several sessions, Jane has become more engaged in singing and reminiscing and she now looks forward to every session.

She practices breathing exercises and often exclaims, "Bloody good!" after each song.

Alice suggested they work on an original song in the future as a way for Jane to connect with her family and Jane has expressed her desire to create a song "for my big brother John". 

We can’t wait to hear how the song sounds.

Image supplied by Residential Service Manager Jan Marlborough.