About Music in Hospitals & Care
Music in Hospitals & Care is a charity that improves the health and wellbeing of children and adults through the healing power of live music.
Every year, their professional musicians share live music with people from across the UK, who may not otherwise get to experience it. This includes those living with dementia, mental health problems, or who are seriously ill.
They believe live music needs to be part of everyone’s health and social care. Why? Because research shows that live music heals. It helps people feel relaxed and confident, and can relieve frustration, stress and isolation. Music can also reduce the perception of pain. It brings back memories and helps create new ones. When you move your body to music – even just tapping a finger – it’s natural physiotherapy.
Live music can transform relationships between patients, families, healthcare professionals, residents and carers. When people enjoy music together, they feel more connected to each other, which leads to more personalised care.
Music in Hospitals & Care's Challenges
Like many charities, fundraising is a big challenge for them at the moment. The cost-of-living crisis is greatly impacting people’s ability to donate, whilst there has also been a big increase in competition for grant funding. Some grant funders have reported that applications have increased by up to 3000%. Many health and care organisations are also facing difficult financial situations, with limited budgets available to support work like theirs, which can often be seen as a “nice to have”, despite the increasing evidence of the profound impact it can have on people’s health and wellbeing.
For the people they support, they are also facing significant challenges in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. There are many barriers that prevent people with health and care needs from being able to experience live music. Many care providers do not have the budget or staff capacity to provide high quality live music, whilst live music in the community is often inaccessible, whether due to physical, social or financial constraints.
They want to break down these barriers, so that everyone can experience and enjoy live music.
Music in Hospitals & Care's Achievements / Goals
We all have a psychological and physiological response to live music. For people in health and care, the impact of live music can be profound.
Here is just some of the wonderful feedback they have received, following their live music experiences:
“This has been absolutely wonderful, thank you. I love music, I always have, it’s my therapy”
“We as staff value the session. It validates our worth, and undoubtedly brings pleasure and happiness for the remainder of the day. Listening to some of the very skilled musicians is also soothing and relaxing, not just for patients but for staff. It gives time out from a busy day, allowing you to get lost in the music.”
“The music has really helped me to forget my worries and cope much better. It brought back my confidence and really improved my mood. It has changed my life.”
“One lady, who is in the advanced stages of dementia, sat next to and sang some duets with Paul. He initially led her, and the words seemed to come back to her. It was a truly amazing thing to see and she was positively glowing at all the handclapping and praise.”
“This has been the first engagement from one patient in a very long time. Finally, I feel we have turned a corner.”
2023 marked their 75th year of joy through live music.
From sharing 22 hours of live music in 1947, to 312 hours of live music in 1960, to 2,324 hours of live music in 2023/24, reaching 36,360 people in health and care.
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