Leeds University Union Music Impact in the Community (LUUMIC)

Leeds University Union Music Impact in the Community (LUUMIC) is a volunteering society, with the following mission statement: We work in and around Leeds promoting wellbeing through music-orientated workshops and performances run by our volunteers. Comprised of a committee who organise and deliver sessions, and student volunteers who support these, we offer an entirely free service to our community partners on a near monthly basis. The range of our community partnerships reflects the plethora of skills that we possess as a collective of musicians, ensemble leaders, and aspiring music therapists, community music practitioners, and music psychologists. We currently work with:

• Aire View and Headingley Hall care homes, on their dementia wards
• Candlelighters, a charity supporting children and their families affected by childhood cancer
• St. Gemma's Hospice
  
• Caring Together, a community support group for over 55s
• The women’s group at Meeting Point, a charity providing support for refugees and asylum seekers
• St. George’s Crypt, a charity supporting the homeless and vulnerable

In our first blog post, we have decided to focus on our work with the elderly, as music’s potential to significantly impact mood and social engagement is well exemplified with this demographic.

Last year, we established a new partnership with Headingley Hall Care Home. Our sessions began in the home’s main communal lounge, featuring performances from our volunteers, interactive singing exercises and musical bingo. Whilst these sessions were entertaining, and a valuable opportunity to engage with lots of residents, we found that the environment presented various challenges that made it difficult to maintain engagement, particularly with hearing or cognitively impaired individuals. Being in the main communal area of the home produced several distractions; visitors coming and going, noises from the adjacent dining area, and staff talking to each other. Furthermore, residents did not have much choice regarding their attendance, and several were somewhat confined to the communal space due to mobility issues. Indeed, many may have just wanted to watch the television or have a post-lunch doze. As a result, we felt it was important to adjust our approach this year to honour the crucial element of participant agency, and maximise the effectiveness of the sessions for those who choose to engage.

We have since started running our sessions on the dementia ward, in a smaller room with fewer distractions. For each session, the staff invite residents to attend and often encourage individuals that they know have a particular penchant for music. This creates a more intimate setting in which we, as practitioners, can address participants personally, engage them with eye contact or occasional physical touch, and stay attuned to individual needs throughout the session. Our sessions typically begin with a ‘Hot Potato’ musical questions game, where a percussion instrument is passed around the circle in time with music. When the music stops, the person with the instrument is asked a question about their musical identity, such as, “What kind of music makes you want to dance?”, or, “What kind of music reminds you of your childhood?”. Their suggestions are subsequently played on a speaker for the room to enjoy, and used for the next round of the game. As a result of the conversation, on several occasions residents have begun to sing popular songs and playground chants from as early as their school days, and other participants have joined in for an impromptu singalong. Such instances leave us bewildered, and thrilled at the bonds and relatability fostered between group members by the shared activity.

We have found this activity to be extremely effective, enabling residents to reflect on music’s role in their lives, connect with their sense of self, and encourage each other with their suggestions. We have observed that answering direct questions, such as naming a favourite band, can often be challenging for the participants, and they may feel embarrassed or anxious at struggling to think clearly. We have thus learnt to phrase questions in a way that is more supportive for residents, who may not have an answer straight away, but can get there with patience and flexibility on behalf of the volunteers. In both care homes that we visit, members of staff play an integral role in facilitating sessions. Using their intimate knowledge of the residents, staff may remind participants of the music they love to listen to, or even their musical skills, often encouraging participants by sharing things such as “Liz loves to sing opera, don’t you Liz!”. Whilst working with participants who have dementia, collaboration between our volunteers and the care home staff is imperative.

In our sessions, we encourage our volunteers to perform classic repertoire that might elicit a nostalgic response in participants; for example, songs by Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and Edith Piaf are frequently suggested by participants and their carers. This approach is based on research that indicates musical memories are often preserved in people with dementia (Jacobson et al., 2015), and listening to nostalgic music can lead to an increase in psychological wellbeing in people with dementia (Sedikides et al., 2019). Indeed, we have observed some remarkable positive changes in participants’ awareness, demeanour, and participation, as a result of playing music that resonates with them; often, participants who struggle to engage in conversation will easily sing every word of a song with confidence, and often, a sense of pride.

Another effective activity is ‘listen and move’, where hand percussion is handed out, and participants are encouraged to sing or move their bodies, within their capabilities, to the music. In doing this, we aim to facilitate synchrony between the participants and with the music. Such behaviour has been shown to have beneficial effects on social bonding between co-participants and encourage positive affective states (Mogan et al., 2017). Synchronising movements to musical stimuli in group settings may also raise the pain threshold of participants (Tarr et al., 2016). Furthermore, musical synchrony may be particularly powerful for patients of neurological diseases, including dementia, in enhancing communicative capacities and coordination with others (Cason et al., 2017).

As with all of our sessions, we have learnt to be flexible with our definition of a successful session, always adapting to the present context and participant needs or interests. Though residents may not play an active role in the session, they may still be enjoying themselves and be having a meaningful personal or social experience. Sessions such as these can be so rewarding for everyone involved, and they seem to animate and engage both the participants and staff alike. We are immensely grateful for the work the staff members do, and look forward to continuing our partnership into the future.

Follow on instagram/facebook: @LUUMIC
Enquiries: [email protected] or [email protected]

 

By Kalila Hambloch and Oliver Cotton

 

References:

Cason, N., Schiaratura, L., & Samson, S. (2017). Synchronization to music as a tool for enhancing non-verbal communication in people with neurological diseases. In M. Lesaffre, P.-J. Maes, & M. Leman, The Routledge companion to embodied music interaction (pp. 304-312). Routledge.
Jacobsen, J. H., Stelzer, J., Fritz, T. H., Chételat, G., La Joie, R., & Turner, R. (2015). Why musical memory can be preserved in advanced Alzheimer's disease. Brain, 138(8), 2438–2450. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awv135

Mogan, R., Fischer, R., & Bulbulia, J. A. (2017). To be in synchrony or not? A meta-analysis of synchrony’s effects on behavior, perception, cognition and affect. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 72(1), 13–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.03.009

Sedikides, C., Leunissen, J., & Wildschut, T. (2022). The psychological benefits of music-evoked nostalgia. Psychology of Music, 50(6), 2044-2062. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356211064641

Tarr, B., Launay, J., & Dunbar, R. I. (2016). Silent disco: dancing in synchrony leads to elevated pain thresholds and social closeness. Evolution and Human Behavior, 37(5), 343–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.02.004