Music in Healthcare/Mental Care

Project Partner:
Music Network, Health Service Executive South

Contact:
www.musicnetwork.ie

Date: 16 May – 31 October 2005
Venue: St. Stephen’s Hospital, Glanmire & Carrigmore Centre, Shanakiel
Project Description:
Music Network worked to build on the experiences and insights gained from another project, “Music in Healthcare” in the Midland Health Board region, with a project which focused on psychiatric patients and healthcare staff based in St. Stephen’s Hospital, Glanmire and the Carrigmore Centre, Shanakiel.

The aim of the Music in Healthcare project was to develop a model of good practice for using music in mental health settings, which would impact favourably on the healthcare environment, primarily through enhancing quality of life and promoting health and social gain.

Professional musicians, Aingeala De Burca (violin) and Nico Brown (multi-instrumentalist) worked with groups of clients and staff in a series of weekly workshops which focussed on enabling the group members to work together creatively, to compose and perform their own music alongside the professionals.

Staff training sessions were factored into the project framework, which aimed to encourage members of staff to continue the work between the musicians’ visits, and to extend the work beyond the timeframe of the project.

The workshops had overwhelmingly positive impacts on the clients within the two participating centres. The project tapped a huge appetite for participative music and arts projects in mental health settings among both staff and clients, and indicated that such projects can have incredibly positive impacts within this particular healthcare field.