Music therapy to keep helping hospital’s dementia patients

A music therapy programme is helping to improve the quality of life of hospital patients living with dementia, officials have said.Music therapy sessions on two wards at Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital are boosting patient mood, helping to reduce anxiety and depression as well as maintaining speech and language.Following a successful year-long pilot project funded by a £12,000 donation from the hospital’s League of Friends, additional funding has been secured from the hospital’s QEHKL charity to extend the programme until August 2025.

The charity supports those receiving care and working at the hospital, enhancing patient, carer and staff experiences through supporting projects, activities, and training over and above that provided through NHS funding.Dr Katie Honney, clinical director for Integrated Care of the Older Person at the QEH, said the hospital was “incredibly grateful” to The League of Friends for supporting the programme and to the hospital’s charity for helping to extend it.“Music has so many benefits for patients living with dementia,” she said.

“It can help reduce anxiety and depression, encourage the maintenance of speech and language, encourage physical ability, provide comfort toward the end of life and enhance the quality of life for all affected by dementia.” A grant of £13,200 means that Suffolk Music Therapy Service will continue to visit the hospital to deliver sessions on the care-of-the-elderly wards every Monday.Samantha Taylor, charity manager at the QEH, said: “Donations like this are exactly what our charity is here for and it’s wonderful we can support patients in this way.” Each session is tailored to meet the patients’ strengths and needs, providing them with engaging therapeutic experiences through individual or group sessions.Regina Legarte, a music therapist at Suffolk Music Therapy Services, said: “Each session varies from individual to individual, and each patient has a unique experience of music therapy.

“Patients have the opportunity to engage in whatever way they can and the music therapist will work in a variety of different ways to tailor the session to particular strengths and needs.“This may include singing familiar songs and improvised musical interactions using movement, musical instruments or voice. Often, the music will evoke strong emotions or memories from a patient’s life which they are then able to express and share.” Rachel Burridge, consultant nurse for frailty at the hospital, said: “I am delighted that this important programme has been extended. We’ve seen first-hand the benefits music therapy has on our patients and their families.”Reporting by Olivia Lawson