I was reading a book called Imperfect Harmony, by Stacy Horn, the
other day. She sings with the Choral
Society of Grace Church in New York.
Horn describes how she got into chorale singing and how much she gets
out of it. She states that the group
goals, discipline and regular practice add to her quality of life and allow her
to experience joy in the process.
Now, I’m thinking about my nursing home
activity experience. The residents sort
of participated in the sing a-longs. A
lot of them liked to sing, or used to like to sing. But this “sort of” business was not
satisfying for them or for me as the activity leader. Volunteer groups came in and also failed to really
engage the residents in sing a-longs.
What was missing?
Then we started our own choir group, scheduled
for 30 minutes every Thursday afternoon.
I hunted down the singers, the “used to be” singers, and the “never
could sing very well but still liked to try” singers. I made sure that they, their nurses, and
their CNA’s knew when practice was and that I was looking for regular
attendance by choir members. I still had
to assist many of the targeted residents to get them there each week, but some
of them did make it a point to be there on time on their own. We practiced for 30 minutes. Every week.
The residents could plan on it, look forward to it, and feel competent
knowing what they planned to do with one small part of their week. We practiced the same set of music for about
3 months in a row. Same songs. Every week.
And I pushed them, making them work on their skills. We practiced finding the starting key,
changing volume for emphasis, adding a few bits of harmonies, and even singing
in rounds (they almost mutinied on that one!).
We improved during those 3 months, and the choir members knew that they
had improved. Then we performed. By the time we performed, we had been
practicing long enough that the choir members felt confident that they were
truly giving something of value back to the community.
And the feedback? Completely positive, of course. Staff, family members, volunteers and other
residents let my choir members know that they had succeeded in putting on a
great show. The choir members could
allow themselves to feel proud of what they’d accomplished.
So, by having a regular, disciplined
choir, my residents were able to experience: the choice of joining or not,
feelings of competence in goal-setting and planning their own lives, learning
and improved skills, confidence, and pride!
This is exactly what Stacy Horn, not in a nursing home, experienced with
her chorale group. Not bad for 30
minutes a week!
© Donna Stuart, ADPC January 20, 2014*
Horn, Stacy. Imperfect
Harmony, Finding Happiness Singing with Others. Chapel Hill: Algonquin
Books of Chapel Hill, 2013.
*This blog first appeared on the Metrolina Activity Professionals Association Facebook page on 1/23/2014.
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