Music in old people’s homes or TV depiction therein.

M0nica what a brilliant idea!!! I have several things i would add to my care plan as well as the type of music i like, audio books i would enjoy hearing and personal things i would want done as well. I have a horror of being in hospital and my glasses, hearing aids and partial denture going astray!!!! I shall make sure i do one of these and leave with a family member just incase.

I like a wide range of music. When FiL was in hospital they had a room where ambulant patients were taken to get them out of the ward - tea, cake - and wartime songs! I knew most of the music and was OK with it for short periods. Days of Vera Lynn in a care home would drive me scatty.

To be honest, though, ANY music that was played non-stop would drive me scatty. We have plenty of CDs but seldom play them even though we love the music. We prefer to be quiet, perhaps listening to the birds singing or just enjoying the peace. Why is it necessary to have somesort of noise going on all the time? Care homes perhaps need quiet spaces as well as television and music-playing areas.

Curvygran, my friend is involved with an organisation called www.playlistforlife.org.uk, which has had good results with people with dementia. I made one for the Bodach, but he couldn’t operate the ipod, so we played it on my tablet. It did seem to help him.

It very much depends on WHY you are in a care home. If it is because you are physically disabled but still have all your wits about you then you should be able to make your personal preferences known . If however, you have Dementia - as the majority of Care Home residents do nowadays - then you will probably have forgotten what your preferences were. DH will often tell me that he has already had lunch and it was his favourite, when in fact it is 11am and he has his mid-morning cup of tea and a biscuit.

Extensive research has shown that music has the power to sooth and calm people with dementia. And that music resides in a different part of the brain from memory and cognition - a part which is seldom damaged by the various types of dementia. Therefore, the ability to recognise tunes and remember the words to songs remains intact. This is why DH can still play his drums which gives him great pleasure and a sense of satisfaction.

His Care Home has regular singalong sessions and Name that tune or singer quizes. Not all residents join in but those that do really enjoy it. One Sunday when I popped in they were singing old hymns with great gusto and even I, with no church connections, joined in, word perfect, having learnt these at school more than 50 years ago.

Daddima , thanks for the link . I’m very interested in the good effects of music on the brain in cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s, having attended a brilliant one day demonstration course for prospective music group leaders .

I have enjoyed reading this thread, moving to a care home is something we all face. I've decided that all I would really want is a good view of something, anything but of traffic!

If dementia is involved, way-back music may be better, since newer memories are so often lost. But of course a lot will depend on the age of the person.

I once helped to play a dementia-specific ‘musical bingo’ game with residents at my mother’s (dementia) care home. Extracts of different, very well known songs were played, and they each had a large board with names of the songs and counters. It went down very well, they all seemed to recognise the songs - there were the likes of Daisy, Daisy, and very familiar hymn tunes, too.
Sadly my mother was by then well past being able to enjoy or join in any such thing.

When I was in hospital last September/October they played pop music in the ward non-stop from 8 a.m. It wasn’t loud, but it drove me absolutely crazy and I’m sure it didn’t help my recovery. To me there is no such thing as background music - you either listen or you don’t. It was hideously intrusive. We shouldn’t have to listen to any music we haven’t chosen, at any stage in life.