Narrative
For over 12 years, the dementia and ageing research team (DART) has collaborated with Manchester Camerata and their programme of work for people with dementia called 'Music in Mind' and more recently, Music in Mind Remote.Formed in 2012 in collaboration with Manchester Camerata as part of their community development responsibilities, 'Music in Mind' is an established 20-week improvised music-making programme designed for people with dementia living in either the community or in a care home and their carers. The fundamental objectives of 'Music in Mind' are to provide a democratic, percussion-based, improvised music-making space aimed at enhancing participants’ wellbeing.
Developed as a response to the pandemic, the 'Music in Mind' Remote online training programme for care home staff has so far reached over 200 people in North-West England. The 'Music in Mind' Remote programme takes the form of 20-weekly online hour-long training sessions delivered by specially trained musicians attached to Manchester Camerata, together with a music therapist. After an induction period, the techniques of 'Music in Mind' are specifically taught to interested care home staff who then undertake the programme with residents with dementia and family carers. There is an accompanying 'Music in Mind' Remote web resource containing instructional videos and downloadable music tracks that can be accessed by care home staff outside the training sessions.
To date, our structured evaluations of the time-limited 'Music in Mind' (in-person and face-to-face) programme (conducted prior to the pandemic) have focused on capturing and valuing the ‘in the moment’ benefits and experiences of improvised music-making for and by people with dementia, such as the participants’ continuing creativity and embodied relationships. This work has demonstrated that some people living with dementia may have an embodied memory of performing within the Music in Mind space, but limited (if any) later recall of their improvised music-making, even when those memories are replayed to the person with dementia via video.
The 'Music in Mind' programme has now reached over 11,000 people, mainly in the North West of England. The partnership has resulted in two funded ESRC CASE PhD studentships (one complete) and grant capture, including from the NIHR SSCR and the UKRI Design for Ageing funding scheme.
Category of impact | Health and wellbeing |
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Impact level | Engagement |
Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms
- Creative Manchester
Documents & Links
Related content
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Research output
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The personal benefits of musicking for people living with dementia: a thematic synthesis of the qualitative literature
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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In the moment with music: an exploration of the embodied and sensory experiences of people living with dementia during improvised music-making
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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‘Music in Mind’ and Manchester Camerata: An exploratory qualitative evaluation of longitudinal engagement in one care home in the North West of England
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Re-thinking and re-positioning ‘being in the moment’ within a continuum of moments: introducing a new conceptual framework for dementia studies
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Creating and Reliving the Moment: Using Musical Improvisation and Care Aesthetics as a Lens of Connection and Self-Expression for Younger People Living with Dementia
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Projects
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Dementia and Ageing Research Team (DART)
Project: Research
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Press/Media
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Could music help cut the cost of dementia care
Press/Media: Other
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Dementia: How music can bring people back into the here and now
Press/Media: Research
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The music project helping people with dementia find their voice during lockdown
Press/Media: Research