Live Music Now

Live Music in Care is a research enquiry that emerged from the campaign ‘A Choir in Every Care Home’, supported by 35 national organisations in the social care and arts sectors. From 2015-2017, they surveyed the many creative ways that older people engage with music, and explored why the majority of care homes do not regularly offer this opportunity. They found a wealth of evidence supporting the use of music for older people, particularly for those living with dementia. The also found there was limited evidence available about how music programmes can impact on a whole care home. So, between 2017-2018, Live Music Now and the University of Winchester worked in partnership with MHA (Methodist Homes) and The Orders of St John Care Trust to investigate the impact of music on residents, staff and the whole care home environment.
This project sought to evaluate an intervention comprising an 11-session interactive weekly music programme, including training for staff, in five care homes in the UK.
The programme was delivered by Live Music Now. The programme focussed on singing and the use of voice, led by pairs of trained professional musicians for 45 minutes
each week. A mixed methods approach was used to evaluate this programme.

For forty five years, Live Music Now has worked alongside those with reduced access to live music, in care homes, schools, hospitals, hospices and community settings across the UK. However, one area where access to music can be absent is in elderly care. Among older people living with cognitive decline, isolation and loneliness, the feelings of happiness, safety and togetherness that music brings about can be invaluable. Live Music Now provides for older people: participatory concerts (bringing the concerts to the care homes and performers interact directly with residents, using conversation, call-and-response and singalongs; the residents are invited to ask questions, play percussion and clap along with the music); music residencies (over the course of 8-12 live music sessions with accompanying workforce development, the performers work with a core team of residents and care team members to nurture and build their musical care skills and confidence, encouraging a lasting legacy of more regular music among participants and carers).

For forty five years, Live Music Now has worked alongside those with reduced access to live music, in care homes, schools, hospitals, hospices and community settings across the UK. Taking part in music on a regular basis supports children’s development of social, personal, emotional and cognitive skills. For children with additional learning needs, this offers significant benefits for their wellbeing, for their self-expression and confidence. They provide: participatory concerts (45-60 minute concerts are highly sensory experiences, with musicians engaging with children individually to demonstrate the instruments, their sounds and their vibrations) and music residencies (residencies provide children with a longer opportunity to build trust with musicians and work to enhance their social and emotional skills through music; the children have the opportunity to listen to musical performance and explore instruments and musical ideas).