Rachel’s Blog

I’m really keen on reflective practice – that reflecting and thinking about what I’ve already done impacts, and hopefully improves what I will do in the future. This falls into the lovely messiness of action research/action learning, it’s difficult to know which questions you are going to need to ask until you’re in the thick of it. This can be difficult sometimes, it’s not about being prepared or unprepared, but when in practice, unexpected things happen, which requires the practitioner to be flexible, but also to think about it all afterwards.

That’s what I want to do now (the Christmas break and the New Year seem a good time for reflection and resolution).

I have some questions about my practice. I’ve worked with a wide variety of groups, from tiny (just a couple of people) to large groups of over 50 people, and everything in between. Most of the time it’s in the 12-20 number range. Some groups are more diverse than others; some groups meld together well, and others don’t, or is it simply that some groups include people who find it harder to relate to others socially?  One of the fantastic things about group singing is it is very inclusive and is an activity that different people can share.

The facilitation of a singing group is very important to ensure everyone does feel included.

How do I feel about using the guitar? Does it get in the way?

How could I change my introductions/patter etc? Can I be clearer when giving instructions. I have an invitational style, and perhaps people need something more directive.

How do existing members of the group react to larger numbers? Generally people like being in a larger group if they are not confident singers, but in some settings, it can put people at a distance which limits the connection I can have with each person.

I spend a lot of time seated, especially when working with the older old who are often less able to stand up (I think it’s important to be on the same level, and not looking down on / talking down to participants) and I think this can give me a sense of being rooted to the spot (not in a good way!). How can I vary this?

How do I combine leadership with joint exploration of a song? I want participants to interpret the songs and music in their own way – I don’t have strongly developed ideas of exactly how I want something to sound. Perhaps I should develop this more!

I feel most comfortable when facilitating unaccompanied singing. I think it’s time to write arrangements of my own to cater to this need. Interestingly, the unaccompanied, harmony songs seem to be the most popular, the ones we keep coming back to, as opposed to the guitar-accompanied songs in strophic form.

*** *** ***

Reflective practice can be difficult. The questions I ask myself force me to acknowledge the truth of my practice, and sometimes the truth is hard to swallow. The important thing is that I am asking the questions, and if I don’t know the answers, then I am working towards them at least. By blogging them I hope the exploration can be shared with others practicing in these kinds of contexts, and help develop an honest community of (reflective) practice.

On Monday I took one of the community-based singing groups I facilitate into a residential care home. It was a bit of an experiment.

Participatory Singing in Residential Care Homes

I have done a lot of work in care homes. It can be a challenge – more of a challenge than I had expected compared to community-based work. The residents often have high support needs of varying types. For example, there may be people in different stages of dementia, with different physical disabilities and frailty, as well as other factors such as literacy, language (can they speak English?), and other mental health problems such as bi-polar disorder or depression.

Often I am left to lead a participatory singing session with groups like this with no support from care staff. This is, as you can imagine, quite difficult, as participants need help to find page numbers, follow the words and reminders to sing and/or use hand percussion. There may also be disruptive group members who might, for example, sing loudly and completely out of time with the group, which other residents find disruptive and mars their enjoyment, or even participation of the session. This means that sessions can feel a little disjointed as often the groups are as large as 20+.

The Community-Based Singing Group

Having a cup of tea with some of the participants of a community-based group in the autumn, it emerged that they felt they wanted to give something back. They enjoyed singing so much that they wanted to share it with others. After a conversation with the manager of the church centre we use, we got a contact at a local residential care home. This residential care home is brand new and as such has limited local connections. They had been unable to secure any activities or entertainment for Christmas.

The Experiment

Around 12 participants of the community-based group came to a 1.5 hour session (with a break for tea and mince pies) at the resi care home. There were about 12 residents present and I think the enthusiasm of the visitors and the increased numbers of people around them helped them feel able to join in with the singing, especially with the actions. The residents were also assisted by the group to play hand percussion and the group were able to help find page numbers and amplify song requests on behalf of residents sitting near them.

From my point of view, I was able to concentrate on leading the music, secure in the knowledge that everyone was engaged in some way. This led to a more coherent session, with more singing, and smoother transitions between different activities. The increased numbers meant that although I couldn’t distinguish who was singing and who wasn’t from listening, I could relax a little and look around the room and see the different ways in which people were engaging. There was one resident who didn’t join in the singing until we sang Oh When The Saints.

Reflection

Taking the group into the residential care home has made me reflect a lot on my practice in residential settings. Yes it would be great to have enthusiastic singers assisting at a session, and I hope I can develop a regular relationship with this care home, as so many from the group enjoyed the visit. However, it is also helping me rethink the way I work in residential care homes.

• Am I placing too much expectation on the residents to be able to work with my resources? (song book, hand percussion) In some cases yes, in others, no. And usually all in the same room.
• I place a high value on participative sessions, yet many resi care homes describe me as ‘the entertainer’ (”she’s going to sing to you” is how I’m often introduced) – what value is there in performing in residential care homes? Or mixing up the session so there is a combination?
• I want to challenge care home residents to make their own decisions and to take a little responsibility for participating. If I work to the lowest common denominator then will I simply be complicit in the institutionalisation of older people?
• How can I be sure the residents want to be in a singing workshop? The descriptor ‘captive audience’ is sadly no over-statement.
• I want to find ways of encouraging care staff to be involved in participative singing.

It’s been such a long time since I last blogged, I wanted to pull together the many ideas and inspirations and anything else which has caught my attention or fed into my practice over the last few months and place them together in one post.

Telly

The first thing is to comment on the recent surge of interest in older peoples’ issues, for example the recent edition of Wonderland showing how the lives of those living with dementia can be improved through group singing. I have to confess to being frustrated by this programme as I felt they could have shown more of the singing – but could have used fewer clips of people singing ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’. On an occassion when I was volunteering at an Alzheimer’s home we sang this song and a woman commented after the last line (’and my heart’s right there’) “no it’s not, it’s here” whilst pointing to her chest. Always amazed at the humour found within people with this debilitating disease.

Another, two-part programme which has been on the telly (or iplayer in my case) is the Can Gerry Robinson Fix Dementia Care Homes? I really relished watching this programme. I see the inside of residential care homes at least weekly, and I work with older people daily. It was wonderful to see my world on the screen because the media in general doesn’t have much space for older people. It was also inspiring to see examples of good practice that show affordable, excellent dementia care is possible.

Yawn-Length Reports (which have lots of useful things in them)

There has been a report published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation called Older People’s Vision for Long-Term Care. There has also been a large-scale consultation taking place called The Big Care Debate. This has now come to a close, but the goverment published a green paper – and you can listen to Andy Burnham talking about it here. Hopefully the systemic change the Joseph Rowntree Foundation is calling for will be matched in the green paper. But we’ll have to wait and see…

Books

There have been a number of books which have helped me think and reflect on my practice. One is Contented Dementia by Oliver James. I found it an overwhelmingly positive read and it helped me to see beyond the disease when working with people with dementia. Perhaps one criticism might be that it painted a picture that was a little too rosy. But I guess the important point is that just because someone has dementia, doesn’t mean they or their family will never have fun again. People have a right to fulfilling lives.

A few others are The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, Well-Tuned Women: Growing Strong Through Voicework by Frankie Armstrong et al and Community Music Therapy by Gary Ansdell et al.

Music

I have found the music of Chris Wood to be particularly inspirational this year. He has such integrity as an artist, telling stories without sentimentality. He has made me think about connection to place, tradition, nationality and community.