Care home music/ style
- Thread starter Victoriag77
- Start date
Ooh yes - our WhatsApp and text messages will appear in BIG BOLD LETTERS on a special screen attached at the front which has to be lowered out of eye sight for mobilising to prevent a falls risk 🤣🤣 OR you can ask ur zimmer to speak the message coming in for you…
Gosh ….there’s a market out there for someone with a technology brain - an internet enabled Zimmer frame 🤣🤣
Gosh ….there’s a market out there for someone with a technology brain - an internet enabled Zimmer frame 🤣🤣
🤣🤣🤣 Laughs are few and far between in the lives of Dementia carers.
Only on this page can we really express our real feelings.
I speak as someone whose husband died 2 years ago but the experience changes you forever.
Glad I managed to keep my sense of humour.
🤣🤣 join the club, I’m sure my brain is the same since my husband died. It’s not always a bad thing though.x
A few mornings ago, whilst I was preparing my OH's breakfast and cup of tea, I asked her what music she might like today. From the limited choice I gave her from our many many iPad playlists through Spotify she said how about some 1960's ?
I put on the playlist - random play - and the first tune that came up was Little Eva singing "Do the Locomotion"
So, naturally, I started to dance (or at least that's what I call it).
Without moment's hesitation my OH said "What would my mum say if she could see you now!"
"Would she join in?" I asked
"She might" and laughed. What a moment to start the day!😆😆
I put on the playlist - random play - and the first tune that came up was Little Eva singing "Do the Locomotion"
So, naturally, I started to dance (or at least that's what I call it).
Without moment's hesitation my OH said "What would my mum say if she could see you now!"
"Would she join in?" I asked
"She might" and laughed. What a moment to start the day!😆😆
I've always wondered when Care Home entertainment might get an update! There will be older people in care now who would have been teenagers or young adults in the sixties. Whereas my mum was old fashioned in her outlook and a little older b.1933, being influenced more by the fifties, we will have others who were movers and shakers; some possibly not just living through the swinging sixties and second wave feminism but also playing their part in it. My mum would definitely respond more to ballads and never did move with the times, but others did! I've sat though entertainments which were mainly join-in type songs and ballads from the 30s to early sixties. The audience was appreciative, but I was thinking when will this change to reflect what people now in their 60s and 70s lived though?
Hi @yvie1
Those organising groups like the "memory singers" for PWD and their carers change all the time. When my OH was a lot more OK than she is now, we used to go to one of these. They played songs from before WWII, as well as later tunes. Some songs were definitely from the era of my parents, and even though those songs were before our time, we knew them as well, and they always handed out word sheets. Sometimes they asked the audience "what would you like?" and I suggested songs from musical shows (as my OH used to perform in these) - could include musicals from the'50s through to the '90s.
So, if you feel the songs chosen are not from the right era, or not from the right genre of songs, speak up and ask for what you or your PWD wants. At the group we attended, there was a lady and her mother who always wanted "country and western" hits, and an old chap, who brought along his acoustic guitar and wanted folk music.
I'm sure the same could and should apply to care homes - just speak with their entertainments person, or the manager.
Or buy and donate a heap of cheap CDs at a charity shop, people like Elton John, Tina Turner, Celine Dion, Billy Joel. They have spanned decades of entertainment and you can sing along to them too.
Personally, listening to hours of Elvis Presley and The Beatles would drive me to snoredom. From that era, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and the Four Seasons were much more fun.
Personally, listening to hours of Elvis Presley and The Beatles would drive me to snoredom. From that era, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and the Four Seasons were much more fun.
Punk erupted onto the scene when I was a teenager. I can just imagine when I need a care home, visiting musicians breaking into Pretty Vacant......
Mum's home has a very active activities team and try to cater for everyone as much as they can. On mum's floor there is an Alexa which has a 'favourites' mix of songs from various eras, artistes and genres, including 50's and 60's, pop, country and western, reggae, rock and more recent tunes, which seems to keep everyone happy. If anyone does request something different Alexa can usually provide this. Mum also has a radio in her room tuned to Smooth radio (Elton John, Abba, George Michael etc) which is more calming for when she is in bed. As several people have mentioned, if not happy with the choice of music speak to the activities staff and they will hopefully be able to accommodate this.Good topic! my beloved wife went into a care home one year ago this month, hard to believe. She has always loved music and dancing and even now, with a marked deterioration in her life journey, we are always looking to improve her daily life. We tried radios and CD's but they became too complicated for her. But then we bought an Alexa and that has been absolutely brilliant! In fact I have an identical one here on the desk as I type and I just say "Alex, play music by John Barry" and within a few seconds Out of Africa comes through with its soul lifting sounds.Firstly I'd like to point out that this a light hearted comment and not a criticism of care home staff. But has anyone noticed that care homes seem to think that all residents are extremely ancient and only consumed culture & entertainment from 100 years ago?
Where my Mum is the music they play is from the 1930s/ 40s and all the decor has posters which are vintage style from the 20s/30s . My Mum is in her 70s as are a lot of the residents. They were young people in the 60s and my Mum loved Elvis, The Beatles and Abba not Dame Vera Lynn and Glenn Miller.
It is obviously not a big issue (I have mentioned it in passing to them in a lighthearted way as I get it's not the home's biggest priority!) but it just struck me that when I inevitably end up in a care home in 30 years time will they still be playing post war tunes
When we visit, we ask Alexa to play all sorts of music from Lindas childhood, teenage years and family life over all the years. We don't need to bring along CD's or fiddle with radio stations. We have a list of songs that Linda loves and whatever bit of music is working well, we share that knowledge. Alexa can be set to turn off and on so that it does not interrupt sleep at night and as its interactive then that encourages the brain to work a bit.
I suppose it can also ease the loneliness and isolation for many, it will chat about the weather and answer questions on anything you can imagine. And its cheap! It uses the care home wi-fi but the family can pay the small subscription to Amazon and then you just ask "Alexa, play music by The Beatles on Spotify"
There are other products similar to Alexa, others will have experience of them.
Maybe its more to do with the age of the staff at some care homes and they think this represents their idea of the type of music for the age group....also some care homes maybe see no need to replace all the pictures on the walls as this costs time and money.
However someone in their 80's now would have been in their 30's in the 1970's so maybe 1970's music would be more fitting?
I think its just laziness by the care homes. The kings fund report recommended changing wall pictures every 6 months to change the scenery.
However someone in their 80's now would have been in their 30's in the 1970's so maybe 1970's music would be more fitting?
I think its just laziness by the care homes. The kings fund report recommended changing wall pictures every 6 months to change the scenery.
Wow, thanks for sending this link to the radio station….I’d never heard of it before and it’s brilliant! I’ll be using it at home with my husband……and no ads!,I feel as you do @Victoriag77. Although I do love the music from the 30s, 40s and so on it’s not my era. I would be tempted to have a proper conversation with someone at the home about it. I know they will have other priorities but I do think it’s something they should be considering.
I wonder if they’d be up for using this online radio station. You can choose the decade you want to play and there are no ads!
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