Music in care homes.

I went to visit a friend in a care home last week and there was an entertainer with a very nice voice singing. The room was not large so why did she have to have a microphone ? Not all old people are deaf (or were not until they were exposed to loud noise!). My mother used to hate the entertainment in her care home because it was always so loud.

I would also like to do a bit of nursing home shopping so I could jot down a few nursing home likes and dislikes in advance (not specific homes as there'ld probably be changes in management etc before I'ld need them, but general features I did or didn't like) so that my next of kin has something to go on if they're presented with a list of numbers and 2 days grace to pick a home before I have to be discharged from hospital..

again sorry slight diversion..

and thinking about it, a really well done personalised "this is me" picture book with bits of writing about me by me would be quite a nice thing to hand down to kids/grandkids etc.

It's a scary thing: planning for potential dementia in the future, but making a really good "This is me" scrap book or picture book could turn into an enjoyable task

I've done picture books for the DDs where I've written what we've done in them like a story and they LOVE reading them, especially about times they don't remember because they wre babies or toddlers - it's not just pictures it's writing about the time too…

Anyway.. bit of divergence there from the main point of the thread, but yeah! I plan to make my own nursing home play lists while I still can at some point

Elegran you can use this as a starting point but of course if you're doing your own ahead of time it would be much richer/more useful

www.alzheimers.org.uk/thisisme

I'ld probably do it in picture form so it can be read with me, like:

I've always liked gardening, here are pictures of the gardens in homes we've owned:

I prefer coffee, here's a picture of me having a coffee with my good friend X

^ that way I think it'ld help me build a relationship with the staff reading it with me IYKWIM as well as letting them know my preferences and serving as my own memory book

I am in my 70s and I loved my parents records of Glenn Miller, still do. I am not yet in a care home, but if I were I would enjoy hearing them again. Lots of other music as well, of course.

Listing our likes and dislikes ready to take in with us (to be sent in with us by our families, more like) is a good idea. Sorting out the photographs that will jog our memories of happier days is another.

Fancy a bit of Jon Bon Jovi myself

a 60 year old, an 80 year old and a 100 year old could potenially be child, parent & grandparent.

3 different generations.

yes that is a good point about the older memories being better than more recent ones for dementia, but I think the concern of the OP is that people now with early demetia, in their 70s, the music of their youth would be 60/70ss not steriotypical "old people" music like We'll Meet Again and Glen Miller etc.

To a lot of people in their 60/70s, that was their parents naff music, not theirs.

I think a problem is that within any given care home there's actually several generations there, people in early onset in their 60s/70s, and their parents generation in their 90s, and maybe even into some fo their grandparents generation with a few over 100s.

They should not be treated as one group just because they're all in a care home together in terms of generational interests and memories

My mother was in a dementia specialist home for nearly 8 years. They did play a lot of old songs, and ditto at singalongs, but it's a bit different where dementia is concerned, since memories are progressively lost, newest first. So old songs were often the ones that were best remembered, and everyone always seemed to enjoy them. In most of the residents dementia was well past the early stages and I never heard anyone complain about the choice of songs.

They also sometimes played a game of 'musical bingo' where they played snatches of very well known old songs/hymns, and they filled in large bingo cards as they recognised them - often with a bit of help.
I don't know about anybody else, but although I grew up in the 60s, I like the old songs, too, and will sing along to 'Daisy, Daisy...'. Or 'My old man said follow the van...' with the best of them.

I think this is where we're going to (hopefully) see "future care planing" become a normal part of pension&retirement planning.

The Alzeimers society do "this is me" books for relatives to fill in so that carers know about individual's preferences.. but it'ld be so much better coming from the person themselves, it'ld be great if they made a future car planning pack that you could store with your will or something so if you did get to a stage where you couldn't express your preferences, they were all there. You could do your own I guess, e.g.

My favourite tipple at christmas:
My favourite hot drink:
Foods I don't like:
Music I like:
Music I don't like:
Movies I like:
My style (if you wear make up/ prefer trousers to skirts etc)
My happy stories/memories:
Things that scare me:
Things I enjoy:
My greatest achievement:
Bath or shower:
I do/don't like halloween ( ) :
Christmas cake or christmas pudding:
Jam or marmalade:
butter or marge:
and then some more serious things like medical intervention preferences

etc etc..

I plan to do some serious future care planning with DH when we hit 60, and making our own memory books etc maybe even our own memory sound tracks.. and make a sort of care-home time capsule for our later doddery selves

I work in a nursing home and I can assure you the residents are given a choice. Yes there is entertainment usually more variety style acts so it's visual performances backing up the music, we also have one to one or small groups so residents can listen to exactly what they want. Lively and lovely music well presented raises residents spirits and can change their day, even if Vera lynn creeps in sometimes. The war years and just after produced some incredibly moving stuff and this is often where their memory is sharpest . Mixed up with modern stuff brings out the best in the residents and makes them smile, music for dementia has to be selected carefully as their moods can change at different times of day, suitable music to enliven or calm as necessary helps everyone. I'm from the black sabbath and led zep camp myself but if we played that I think there would be a riot! Cater to individuals is key.

There seems to be an assumption that Care Home residents are merely passive recipients of whatever entertainment is laid on. So it may surprise some people to know that my experience of Care Homes is that residents themselves are usually the arbiters of what they do or do not want to be entertained by.
I have a dear friend, a professional singer, who pays monthly visits to the Care Home where I'm Chaplain and sings a range of songs, but always checks with residents which ones they want to hear. Those people who don't want to listen go and do something else.
I can tell you that currently the most popular songs she sings are from the musicals (of every decade) with a side order of Carol King and The Carpenters.

I enjoy a wide range of music but hate having permanently piped music imposed on me. So long as you have the opportunity to get away from it everyone else can have whatever they like.
Most music will make someone smile at some point.

There was a programme on TV some time ago about elderly people - some of them quite poorly - singing in a choir and what a wonderful experience it was for them. They were singing songs like My Generation and Fix It - and very effective it was too.

I don't mind some of the old songs but I think there should be a more varied repertoire to suit all tastes - as others have said, not everybody of the same age likes the same music.

What about trying Barcelona by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Cabelle, Itychoo Park by the Small Faces...... (I'm joking - but it might work )

I would guess most current care home residents are probably late 70s upwards in age and would have known the music in the 30s/40s/50s.
If there is one thing that sticks in peoples minds even if they are starting to develop dementia is music. It would probably be a good idea to ask the residents or play a range of music and see what they would like.

I have to confess to liking some of those songs of the 1930s. It's the style I like. I think I must have lived in the 1930s in another life.

What used to make me laugh was adverts for G4 and El Divo CD's with the tagline 'An ideal gift for Mother's Day'. If my kids bought me either of those then i would disinherit them. I think advertisers are finally coming round to the fact that quite a few grandparents were born in the 1960s (1964 in my case) and therefore were teenagers in the 70's and 80's.

I'm into punk and metal and would have been wearing an Iron Maiden T-Shirt when my DGD was born if she hadn't been born by C-Section.

My ex and I were seriously thinking of buying Motorhead baby vests for DGD when she was born but we thought that DD wouldn't find it funny

I'll be playing Queen, Bon Jovi, Green Day and the Black Veil Brides If I end up in a care home

I believe there's room for all music. In fact if they're not singing the likes of Tipperary, I Love a Lassie and Burlington Bertie when I need a care home I'll be very disappointed! I remember pubs with a 'joanna' were always packed on Saturday nights in the 60s and 70s with people of all ages singing old favourites, ranging from the music hall to Anne Shelton etc. It's where my generation learned the words. I can't see tomorrow's residents being particularly keen on singing along to Eminem and Britney Spears but maybe some Beatles, Queen, Abba and Neil Diamond

We did some North West morris dancing in clogs in the lounge of a Residential Care Home yesterday and a lot of people were smiling and tapping along with the music.

We did wonder if we'd be a bit loud seeing as it was inside but we've been asked back again for next year!

I would want the Rolling Stones

Yes Galen that would suit me fine, I an not a fan of Vera Lynn'S "We'll Meet Again" I am not even sure if that is the title. Being anti social I would prefer to stay in my room. I hate sing alongs now and I doubt if that will change.

Now don't get me started on this!.....as someone who runs choirs and has sung in residential homes many many times I am obsessional about the idea that the residents deserve quality and should not just be palmed off with any old rubbish - it is a darned insult to do that, but it happens all the time.

And yes I would want Beach Boys, Beatles and classical - definitely NOT Roll out the Barrel!

Gilbert and Sullivan for me with perhaps a touch of Verdi and Rossini?
Oh! And throw in some Queen and Beatles while you're about it!

Sarahellen, I did not call it antiquated rubbish! I said it was from an era that has long gone. My point is; how many eighty year olds in care homes today actually heard war time songs on the radio when they were young? They would have heard in the Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra in their youth .

If anyone tries to get me to listen to screaming Adele or One Direction I will definately be anti-social, what a thought aaarrrgghhh

OH likes Natham Carter ,I like Frank Sinatra . Hope we end up in different care homes ........ we are in our late 70s