Orchestra starts 30-week dementia initiative

Orchestra starts 30-week dementia initiative

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norman lebrecht

July 10, 2017

Press release from the Manchester Camerata:

Manchester Camerata is delivering a 30 week Music in Mind programme on the wards of the Royal Bolton Hospital, supported by £11,000 funding from the People’s Postcode Trust.  Many of the patients are living with dementia, and whilst they are in the hospital to receive treatment for a different medical or surgical need, they can find being in hospital disorientating. Music can have a calming effect.

Lucy Geddes, Camerata in the Community Manager, said that this project is not about playing music to patients, rather it is about playing music with patients. She said: “Rather than being music for people, this is music with people. It gives patients living with dementia the chance to contribute to the music-making. This could be by tapping a drum or playing the bells – any contribution is valid. The result is that they feel empowered and in control of what they are doing, and their mood therefore often improves. People who are not able to communicate verbally can often communicate through music.”

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