A care home manager’s guide to music therapy

Music therapy is a complementary form of therapy that can be used alongside traditional care methods to help accomplish personal and healthcare goals. It involves exploring sound by listening and playing along to music with a trained music therapist.

Share this article

Download your free ebook!

Don’t forget to grab your copy of our free Care Home Manager’s Guide to Music Therapy ebook…

Contents

  • What is music therapy? 
  • Creative & art therapies 
  • Benefits of music therapy
  • Music therapy & dementia 
  • Side effects & risks 
  • Getting started with music therapy 
  • Should I introduce music therapy into my care home? 
  • Using CareDocs 

Welcome

Music can be many things to many people. For some, it can be a good time, and for others a form of escapism. It can motivate or mellow, provide a friend, a voice, a hobby or a career. Finding comfort in certain songs or sounds seems to come easy, so it’s no surprise many of us perceive music to be therapeutical. Anyone can listen to music and feel like it’s helped in some way, either by inspiring, relaxing or giving us something else to focus on. But the way most of us experience music is completely different to what happens during a ‘music therapy’ session. 

Music therapy is a profession that supports the individual in greater ways, using techniques to promote communication, expression, unlock memories and evoke powerful feelings. You need to be a qualified and registered music therapist to practice in the health sector, and there are standards, regulations and training programmes to keep on top of. For this reason, it’s not a service just anyone can offer. This ebook explores the basics of music therapy, what the benefits are, and what things should be considered before introducing it into your care business. 

Music Therapy in Care Homes - CareDocs

What is music therapy?

Music therapy is a complementary form of therapy that can be used alongside traditional care methods to help accomplish personal and healthcare goals. It involves exploring sound by listening and playing along to music with a trained music therapist. No musical knowledge is needed but participation is highly encouraged.  

A variety of easy-to-use instruments are usually provided, such as bells, wooden blocks and cymbals. Or voices can be used to make noise depending on a person’s capacity. With the right tools and professional guidance, individuals can express and communicate feelings in different ways. There’s no wrong way to take part in musical therapy, but certain instruments, sounds or songs may feel more therapeutic. 

Creative & art therapies

Music therapy falls inside both the ‘creative’ and ‘art’ categories of therapy. These types of therapies can be one-on-one sessions or group activities, and provide people with a different outlet of communication to express themselves. Some forms of creative therapy will utilise bodies of work that have sentimental meanings to an individual, such as songs, to try and unlock memories, generate emotions and create conversation.  

Other forms of conventional art therapy include painting, drawing, drama, dance, photography, writing and poetry, and sometimes they are combined to maximise the effect. A creative therapy can be anything which allows the individual to create something, such as crafts and baking. These activities are hosted by a trained professional who specialises in the subject. 

Benefits of music therapy

Music therapy is a popular form of therapy used by care homes to support residents living with a wide variety of conditions. The potential benefits it’s shown to have for dementia patients are most commonly reported, but it can be used to support treatment and care for depression, autism, cerebral palsy, learning difficulties, or individuals who require a pain management programme, to name a few. But like all therapies, every person responds differently and some may experience no benefit at all. To find out if your residents could benefit, consult a registered music therapist. 

It’s important to remember that music therapy should be approached as a supplementary tool to help residents reach a personal goal related to their healthcare. At its core, listening to music can be fun and calming, but music therapy offers a much more fulfilling experience by getting people involved and invested. Music therapy can help people who find it difficult to open up or put their thoughts and feelings into words. It allows for creative expression which could help with addressing negative feelings, experiences and trauma. This makes it an ideal activity for people who feel anxious, shy or have trouble communicating. 

Music therapy can be a social activity and an opportunity to bond with others using music. Group therapy sessions, especially, can help people who may feel isolated to connect with their community and make new relationships. Being a part of a group can build confidence, and feeling heard through self-expression can be empowering. Hearing familiar songs can also evoke memories of important events and create discussion points. For people with memory problems, this can be a powerful and euphoric experience. For residents with physical goals, playing certain instruments can help increase hand-eye coordination, timing and strengthen muscles. 

Music therapy & dementia

Throughout our lifetimes, different types of art can become linked to significant moments. This is especially true for music, which plays a huge role in many lives, dating back to childhood. Hearing a song that has a personal importance can bring back memories associated with special events; relaxing with friends, a holiday, a wedding, a first dance, a funeral. For this reason, music therapy is often used to support people living with dementia. 

Music can have a calming effect and provide clarity during a state of confusion. Studies have shown playing certain types of music can reduce stress and anxiety, or make you feel more positive, upbeat or nostalgic. Music therapy includes the same benefits and goes a step further. Listening to music and playing along with an instrument stimulates multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, even areas which are affected by the disease. Through creating sound, those who have trouble communicating can feel heard and communicate with others while reducing stress levels and performing essential mental exercises. 

Benefits of Music Therapy - CareDocs

Side effects & risks

There are no physical or harmful side effects of music therapy. However, there could be a risk to wellbeing if an individual is unwilling to participate or becomes easily confused. Loud sounds can make some people nervous or uncomfortable, and softer sounds may be harder for people with hearing difficulties to process. It’s important when organising a group session that everyone is aware of what to expect. In some cases, specific songs or sounds could trigger memories that might be emotional, causing unexpected reactions. But evoking emotions is normally a sign of progress in therapy and not necessarily a bad thing.  

It’s best to plan ahead and make the therapist aware of any instruments that should not be used, if the person can become aggressive, or if they have difficulty holding certain objects. By taking a person-centred approach to music therapy and setting each resident up for success, risks can easily be avoided. The therapist will also be trained to high standards to be able to deal with a range of scenarios. 

Getting started with music therapy

When considering music therapy, you should first identify whether your residents have a genuine need for therapy. Looking through care plans is a great way to find out personal and healthcare goals. For example, if an individual is working towards increasing their communication or social skills, improving cognitive function, or desires to be more creative, then music therapy could support these outcomes. The residents should be asked if they would like to participate and explained how sessions will work and what the benefits are. 

There are a two routes you can take to find a music therapist. If you have a small budget, you may choose to find an organisation within the charity sector that specialises in music therapy. Charitable services aren’t always easy to find and are in high demand, but it never hurts to enquire. If you don’t succeed with the first try, they may be able to recommend another option. 

You can also access music therapies privately, although this can be costly. A good resource to find music therapists is the British Association for Music Therapy (BAMT), which have an online register to search for professionals based on location and what clientele they specialise in. In addition to England, the register also includes therapists in Wales and Scotland.  

To ensure therapists meet the highest professional standards, music therapists who work in healthcare need to be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The HCPC regulate a number of professions and set the standards for their training, education and practice. You can check their online register to confirm if the art therapists you’re speaking to have met these standards.  

If you book a music therapy session, the next step is to incorporate the activity into the individual’s care plan. In the document, explain what risks they might face and what goals they want to achieve, tying it together with the treatment or care it is complementing. Remember to log notes of the sessions afterward as well to add extra detail for how the therapy went and how the resident responded. Recording this will help you demonstrate the high standards of care you are delivering to assist you in achieving the best possible inspection results.  

Should I introduce music therapy into my care home?

Music therapy is a popular form of complementary therapy in care homes. Various studies have been conducted to confirm the potential benefits, and positive results are regularly reported by care providers. This is to be used as a supplement to conventional treatment and care to work towards a goal and it’s entirely possible that your residents wont experience the desired benefits. However, as with all therapies, you should discuss the needs and goals of your residents with a qualified therapist beforehand to establish whether music therapy is an appropriate activity. A trained music therapist will take a person-centred approach to give each individual the best chance of seeing positive results. 

If you specialise in care for individuals with learning disabilities, special needs or other mental health conditions like dementia, then music therapy could be a rewarding addition to your activity plan to support their expression and communication needs. Residents who suffer from more common problems, such as isolation, anxiety or depression, may find music therapy useful for connecting and creating new relationships while building confidence. Music therapy can be more cost-effective as a group activity, so although you should not rule it out as an individual activity, it may be worth exploring what other options are available if only one or two residents in your care are candidates for it. Alternatively, check with charities to see if they can offer support and guidance. 

Using CareDocs

CareDocs allows you to compose person-centred care plans in just three simple steps. There are dozens of sections to cater for all aspects of everyday care, which is where you might record your conventional treatment for a condition. Many specialist areas of care, including music therapy aren’t included in our care plan by default, but you are able to quickly create custom care plan sections and add dedicated areas for risk assessments and objectives. If you decide to adopt a complementary therapy at your care business, you can add it to the plan and manage each resident’s progress as you carry out your routine care plan updates. 

After each therapy session, you can record a daily note and log the results of an individual or group event, as well as your residents’ emotions, photos and upload supporting files. Daily notes can be recorded and viewed on mobile devices for point of care recording, and CareDocs allows you to generate instant reports to easily view information from past events for multiple residents all in one space. 

For more information about how CareDocs can support person-centred care at your business, get in touch today to learn more. Call us on 0330 056 3333 or email sales@caredocs.co.uk. 

If you’re an existing customer and would like assistance using the features mentioned above, please contact support@caredocs.co.uk. 

Sources

Download your free ebook!

Don’t forget to grab your copy of our free Care Home Manager’s Guide to Music Therapy ebook…

Originally published on January 14, 2022
Article updated on June 1, 2023

Share this article

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Email

Author

Search

Book a demo

Book a free demo to see how we can transform your business.

Find Out More...

Book a demo...

Don't miss out!

Subscribe to our newsletter before you go for updates, offers & more...

Download your ebook!

Don't forget to grab your copy of our free Music Therapy ebook...