Residents at Ferrars Hall Care Home in Huntingdon will benefit from a new initiative launched by Social Enterprise Musica called Just One Hour. Just One Hour is inspired by research which suggest that those living in a care home benefit from increased social interaction particularly using music.
“Just one hour is a revolutionary campaign, we want to start a movement of people making the world a better place for those living with dementia by improving their overall quality of life through music. Taking one small step, one person at a time, just one hour.” Said Rosie Mead, CEO Musica and Wellbeing.
The team at Ferrars Hall have committed to providing at least one hour of meaningful music for people living with dementia every week. Residents already enjoy their daily chair-based exercises to musical accompaniment and are planning to do some reminiscing activities with music too. Feedback from the campaign suggests that people who have signed up have seen a positive impact on communication, wellbeing, social interaction and quality of life.
“So many of our residents love to listen to music, it gives a real boost to people’s mood, you can see feet starting to tap and people singing along as soon as we put music on,” said Wellbeing Coordinator Gordana Reed “In addition to the Musica initiative we’ve been using a service from a charity called Purple Angels who supply MP3 players ready loaded with 15 music tracks of the residents’ choice. The MP3 players have been especially useful for residents who are in bed or prefer to spend a lot of time in their bedrooms. People have asked for everything from Vera Lynn and Frank Sinatra to Abba and Kate Bush.”
The team at Ferrars Hall have got family members involved to find out what resident’s favourite music is and build up a playlist. By getting everyone interested in choosing music and ensuring that they include it in activity sessions, has made sessions much more fun and engaging. Since including more music in their weekly sessions, the Wellbeing Team have noticed that people’s mood has improved, and they are more enthusiastic about participating in group activities.
For more information about Ferrars Hall Care Home contact, Maria Moore on 07979 635 744 or email maria.moore@countrycourtcare.com.
