Music in Health Care Settings
The importance of music in healthcare settings is increasingly recognised, as it has the potential to offer great benefits to patients and their visitors but also to lift the mood and reduce the stress levels of the staff.
There are many projects round the country using music to improve wellbeing and transform people’s lives, offering a multitude of opportunities for musicians wanting to work in this area, and some examples are listed below:
Music for Health
Music for Health is a non-clinical approach, focusing on the cultural benefits and the improvement of wellbeing, pioneered by Musique et Sante in Paris. The focus is on engaging with patients and staff, at the bedside or in communal areas and encouraging and facilitating their participation. Its effect in humanising the hospital environment is leading to increasing demand, and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester is responding by developing a learning programme for musicians. This involves a series of practical ‘residencies’ in different healthcare settings, supported by workshops to develop a toolkit of resources to respond to different audiences. For more details, visit: www.rncm.ac.uk
Music Therapy
Music Therapy is a registered profession and uses musical improvisation in a
clinical setting to engage with patients on an individual level or as part of
a group, helping them to participate in creating music and develop new skills.
Nordoff-Robbins is a charity which offers music therapy in hospitals, schools
and day centres all over the country, and it provides training courses at different
levels for those interested in music therapy. These include introductory courses
to give a theoretical background to the approach and to develop improvisation
skills, the Masters degree to qualify as a music therapist and research degrees.
In addition, continuing education workshops are offered for those wishing to develop
their skills. For more details, visit: www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk
The Association of Professional Music Therapists: supports and develops the profession
and their members are qualified Music Therapists who have undertaken a recognised
post-graduate training course in Music Therapy. For more details visit: www.apmt.org
Live Music Now
Live Music Now provides opportunities for young musicians to gain outreach experience
through playing in a variety of settings, including the health sector. Started
by Yehudi Menuhin over thirty years ago, Live Music Now aims to help musicians
develop their career as well as reach those with limited opportunity to access
live performances, such as older people, those with learning disabilities and
hospice patients.
Over 3000 performances and workshops are held each year in a variety of settings
including special schools, hospitals and care homes.
Following an audition process, musicians are given an induction programme and
offered mentoring and ongoing training as they perform in different settings.
Musicians (either soloists or in groups) generally commit to up to 2 years with
Live Music Now. For more details, visit: www.livemusicnow.org.uk
Music in Hospitals
Music in Hospitals also offers live music in order to improve quality of life for those with illness or disability. Over 4000 concerts per year are arranged in hospices, day care centres and special needs schools, offering a wide-ranging repertoire specially selected in order to engage and entertain the audience. Experienced musicians with good communication skills and an understanding of the health care setting are invited for audition. For more details, visit: www.music-in-hospitals.org.uk
How to use music to engage young people, and what is involved e.g. working with musicians/type of musical activity
Funding
There are many different sources of funding, including charitable trusts, government
funding, the Lottery and corporate giving. You may be able to apply to some or
all of these, depending on several factors. These include:
• what your project is
• what its aims are
• how much money you require
• what the target audience is
• where you plan to carry out the work
• the type of your organisation (whether it has a constitution, registered charity,
private or statutory organisation)
Further links
Useful information can be gained from the following:
• www.governmentfunding.org.uk - access to Government grants for the voluntary and community sector
• www.lotteryfunding.org.uk - joint website run by all Lottery funders in the UK, with information on current
funding programmes across the UK.
• www.grantfinder.co.uk - database providing comprehensive details of both UK and European funding including
grants, loans and venture funding for voluntary groups and charities.
• www.euclid.info – information on European and international funding information for the cultural
sector
• www.trustfunding.org.uk – the funding website of the Directory of Social Change, which gives information
on charitable trusts, company giving and grants for individuals.
The Music for Health monthly e-bulletin produced by the Royal Northern College
of Music also gives regular suggestions for funding. To join the mailing list,
email Jill.Barlow@rncm.ac.uk.
Author's credit: "Music in healthcare settings" has been written by
Jill Barlow, RNCM Music for Health Project Manager
