October 21, 2008 at 10:40 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Last night I started a volunteer placement at a social club for lonely people, organised by Christian-based charity Archway Foundation. The evening started with tea, coffee, biscuits and chat as people arrived. It was difficult to distinguish between volunteers and ‘friends’ (service-users). Each week some form of entertainment is provided, and last night a guitar/singing duo performed a variety of songs, including the hits of Buddy Holly, Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Simon and Garfunkel. In the latter half of the evening, after the audience had participated by clapping and singing along, chairs were cleared away to make space for dancing. It was amazing to see the difference in people, who previously were struggling to lift a tea-cup, get out of their chairs and move to an old 50’s hit. And the overall lift in atmosphere from the beginning of the evening to the end was palpable.
The people who come to Archway come from a variety of different backgrounds. Some are elderly, some are suffering from mental health problems, or other health problems that prevent them from working. A question I have is how much does loneliness inhibit our actions - are we less likely to get up and dance if we have had limited social contact? And how much does general inhibition stop us from forming strong relationships with one another? The friends at last night’s social clapped, sang and danced, but only when invited to.
And we all finished with the hokey-kokey!
October 6, 2008 at 5:08 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
As we have already crept into October it’s about time I wrote something about the Music and Health Conference I attended 9th-10th September at Folkestone University Centre, home to the Sidney de Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health.
In some ways, it feels better to reflect on the conference after an interval, in order to relate more simply my key learning points from the 2 days.
1. People are so friendly!
Of course they are. But I had not quite anticipated people’s willingness to be phoned out of the blue by a novice asking daft questions, and to answer them. I am greatly encouraged by several conversations I have had since the conference resulting in oportunities to shadow other practitioners and to discuss facilitation styles. Certainly, my experiences of the conference have taught me to be absolutely bold and to just pick up the phone.
2. Community is an important dimension in Music Therapy.
Dr Gary Ansdell, in his key note presentation, drew together the practices of music therapy and community music as being in the same continuum, or under the umbrella term ’social musicianship’ - it was both motivating and deeply affirming. I feel I have so much to learn from the practice of music therapists - working with the existing musicality of the client, rather than pasting music on top of them. He said of music therapists and community musicians “we need to share the territory and draw a shared map” - Bring it on!
September 3, 2008 at 11:33 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
so this report from the Audit Commission came out a couple of months ago (I mentioned it in my first blog post) and it makes some observations about the UK’s ageing population although it is aimed almost exclusively at the statutory sector. Its key point is around the independence of older people - that services should not just be able to cope with those who are vulnerable, but should also be accessible to older people more generally, so more over-65s can retain their independence “Councils need to ensure that independent life is an option for as many older people as possible, for as long as possible”.
I would have to say I agree, although I think there are maybe two or three points to draw out.
The first is that in order to maintain independence, community is key. When we are vulnerable, we need help from others to maintain a fulfilling and varied life, it is our neighbours who can uphold us in basic matters of living - for the infirm it might be putting out the wheelie bin, or picking up a pint of milk, for those who are fit, it might be an added sense of security, someone to water your tomatoes when you go on holiday (and help to continue a life-enriching hobby of gardening). Which leads me to my next point, that community does not have to be complicated, at least not to start with. In May, the Guardian published this article on neighbourliness. Have a read.
My last point is really about the excitement I feel about the increasing cross-over between the voluntary sector (third) and the statutory sector (second)- the report Don’t Stop Me Now is really quite dry reading (hence it took me a whole two months to comment) and I feel as though it is up to the voluntary sector in many ways to add colour, imagination and creativity to a lot of bland and well-structured government edicts.
August 12, 2008 at 10:25 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Today in the news it was announced that significant numbers of older people suffering from depression are not able to access the mental health care they need. Age Concern have said this is often down to “ageist attitudes in health care professionals” and have launched a campaign ‘Down - But Not Out’.
I’ve been having a few thoughts about this issue today:
1. Older people need to be more empowered about asking for what they need - I was frustrated with my Nanna, who, after a knee replacement operation was sent home from hospital to an empty house with no painkillers because she didn’t want to make a fuss.
2. It can be difficult for older people to feel confident, especially if they live alone, or have just had a knee operation, or feel unable to manage with some activities of daily living such as bathing or paying an electricity bill.
3. The examples of difficulties sometimes faced by older people outlined above should be no barrier to accessing services if a strong community network is in place to support and champion older people.
August 11, 2008 at 10:05 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
…more crawling really, but at least I’m not standing still or moving backwards. It’s difficult to know exactly what to focus on in these early stages of developing a practice. My time is currently spent playing my instruments (piano, violin, voice) and choosing new songs and polishing up old ones (at the moment Billy Joel’s ‘New York State of Mind’ to fit into a holiday-themed session), as well as the trips to the library (conveniently located near my ‘day job’) and online research which led me to Freddie Mercury on YouTube on my search for the audit commission’s report about older people staying active entitled ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ (more on that another time)… for now it is late and definitely time to go to the pub…
