Musical voices ring through the halls each and every Thursday afternoon here at the Wellington Terrace Long-Term Care Home.
The newly established Wellington Terrace Circle of Song Choir for residents with dementia catches the attention of many in the vicinity of the home’s chapel.
The new musical program is a partnership between the facility and the Elora Festival Singers.
“When I came on board as the new manager for the festival I was interested in what type of outreach and education programs the singers had,” said Elora Festival manager Chris Sharpe, who started last September.
After completing some research he found a program called “Singing for the Brain” for people with dementia in England.
Coincidently, Wellington Terrace’s life enrichment manager Colleen Cudney went to England shortly after Sharpe told her about the program and did some research on her own.
“There was one fairly close to where I was staying, (I) connected with them, took the train over and they let me sit in on their session, ask all kinds of questions, they were so welcoming and that choir’s been going for some time,” Cudney said.
Cudney brought back a template that she and Sharpe used to develop Wellington Terrace’s choir program, but they added a twist. Wellington Terrace residents have the added benefit of working with a professional and internationally renowned choir.
“We’ve found the perfect choir director from within the singers and we’ve invited the singers to come and go as they can to help out,” Sharpe explained. “But we’ve got the continuity of weekly rehearsals with Chris Fischer being the continuous director and we’ve added on some therapeutic elements to it to make it an overall therapeutic music program.”
Currently there are 10 residents who are part of the choir with a waitlist of about eight.
Each participant had to demonstrate musical interest and talent to be considered for the new choir as well as have a caregiver who could accompany him or her to weekly rehearsals.
At the beginning of each choir practice a physiotherapist takes the members through some physical exercises, then Fischer takes over with voice exercises that lead into choir practice.
“I’m trying to … come up with some kind of a repertoire here, if this becomes a more enduring kind of program, where we have a certain amount of folk song material, also maybe popular songs from the 40s, 50s … and different sort of little part songs, little rounds and sort of more ballad type things,” Fischer explained.
He’s mindful of what people already know and what they can handle, however he doesn’t notice any difference in the information retention for people with dementia compared to people without dementia.
“They probably remember just as well as anybody that wouldn’t have dementia from what I’ve observed anyway,” he said. “Even if it may be relatively new, they’re physicalizing it and they’re remembering it a little bit more probably than they would some other things.”
Fischer, a lead tenor with the Elora Festival Singers, also said working with the choir is a great way to experience music in a different way than as a professional singer.
“You’re not always on edge trying to be the best performer that you can be,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to remember that there’s something a little bit more sort of honest about it, that it’s not just for show, it’s something that’s deep within you. It’s a nice way to connect with that.”
Though the program has only run for about two months, the organizers said they’ve noticed a difference in the residents.
Cudney said she’s had a lot of positive feedback from caregivers.
“The caregivers in particular are about … how well that person did today,” she explained. She also said it’s building family relationships as well as relationships between residents.
Cudney explained music is something most people learn from a very young age.
“Whether we’re good at it or not, it is something that is kind of inside of us and I think that’s how it relates so well with dementia because what we know is that the long-term memory is the last to go,” she said.
“And so that would mean that the music that we’ve learned so early in life is probably one of the last things that will go for us.”
For now the program is limited to 10 singers as the facility does not have an appropriate space for a bigger group. However, Cudney said they’re looking into alternatives includeing a “step-down” choir for those on the waitlist that will be run by staff. When a spot opens up in the Circle of Song choir the next person on the waitlist will be brought in.
The choir is working toward its first public appearance on May 27. Wellington Terrace is celebrating its 10th anniversary at its current location and the choir will perform for other residents.
