SONGLINES engaged those living with dementia and cognitive impairment through poetry and song.

Description

Working together, artists Lani O’Hanlon and Liam Merriman (Waterford) and Margaret Galvin and Billy Roche (Wexford) collaborated with clients in care homes and day care centres in the South-East of Ireland for Songlines, a project in partnership with Poetry Ireland, and supported by the Arts Council and the Waterford Healing Arts Trust (WHAT).
Six workshop sessions took place in Waterford and Wexford, and saw the artists engage with those living with dementia and cognitive impairment through discussions of poetry and songs. Focusing on favourite poems and songs learned in childhood, during the teen years and into adulthood, the workshops revealed memories associated with both artforms, which the artists used as prompts for deeper, more engaged participation.
The culmination of the project was a special event performed from Festival in Van with the facilitators, clients, and staff; the audience were drawn in through active participation via songs and poems discussed in the workshops. Both clients and staff took turns singing favourite songs, and the events also included the specially composed songs and poems written for the participants based on memories they shared. One such song was ‘Coco the Clown’ which was written for a participant who was a former circus clown, who came out of retirement briefly to spin plates as part of the event. This participatory model resulted in participants feeling seen, empowered, involved, and more connected to each other and to staff, as well as being supported and validated in expressing their own experiences, ideas, and creativity.
These sessions took place in Waterford at Care Choice Dungarvan & Dungarvan Community Hospital, and in Wexford at Grantstown Community Village & St John’s Community Day Care Centre.

Aim of Initiative

Studies have shown that adults with dementia, despite different levels of memory loss, can often remember songs and poems learned by heart in school at an early age. Songlines offered opportunities for older people and their carers to express their ideas, thoughts, and feelings, whether that be difficult emotions or optimism for the future.
This initiative also offered carers an opportunity to sustain and replenish the empathy needed to care for patients, especially those with complex needs. Over the course of the sessions and performances, facilitators worked to bring carers and residents together in a more collaborative way. Both cohorts were encouraged to tap into their capacity for creative work and developed a sense of accomplishment from taking part. This built confidence and improved mental health, particularly amongst residents.

Who is it aimed at

This initiative was aimed at clients and staff in care homes and day care centres in the South-East of Ireland living with dementia and cognitive impairment.

3 Steps critical to success

1. FIAV appointed four extremely detail-oriented and experienced artist facilitators for this project. Preparatory Zoom sessions shaped the initial workshop outline to ensure the best possible outcomes for the residents. The professionalism, warmth and emotional intelligence shown by the artists was astounding, and all four went to great lengths with their own research to ensure very rich workshop experiences.
2. In designing the project and beginning the work, Festival in a Van worked closely with artist Marie Brett, one of Ireland’s leading exponents of social arts practice, who consulted at length on best practice and approach. We also consulted with Jane O’Hanlon, Education Officer with Poetry Ireland, as project partner, and with the team at Waterford Healing Arts Trust. This meant that we were able to draw on the expertise and guidance of organisations and individuals with extensive experience working in healthcare settings and with vulnerable adults.
3. Each of the four centres and hospitals that hosted Songlines sessions had incredibly dedicated and engaged staff members who were able to work with FIAV to coordinate the logistics around each workshop session and performance. Their time, organisation, and communication with FIAV, the facilitators, and their clients was vital to ensuring successful participation in each location.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. One of our facilitators, a thorough researcher who had planned for her workshops in great detail, described the need to think ‘on her feet’ when she came to one session with a vast accumulation of poems from childhoods of the 50s and 60s only to be told ‘we don’t want to talk or think about school, school was awful’. This meant that the facilitator needed to throw out her plans and quickly pivot, and more fun and diverting activities were considered. The result was that the next session focused on the romance and glamour of courting at dances, showbands, and lively music.
2. Due to fluctuating health, some workshop participants were unfortunately not well enough to attend the performance at the end of the series. Workshop facilitators found a way to include their presence, nonetheless, weaving their words into the performance and reading their favourite poems and memories for them.
3. Songlines required significantly more time, investment, and financial resources than a typical day of FIAV gigs. In order to deliver a programme that was informed, meaningful, and well-executed, the funding needed to be secured to back research, workshop facilitation fees, and other costs such as bringing on an evaluator of the project.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. Staff in both Wexford and Waterford reported an overall better mood in their group. The sharing of deeply personal memories showed that Songlines is a valuable creative intervention in breaking through the loneliness and isolation that comes from a cognitive/health impairment, or even just the grinding monotonous nature of a very structured daily routine.
2. There was a palpable eagerness amongst participants to share their stories, demonstrating the power of the project to reaffirm their individual identities. The rich decades of their lives and journeys were shared, heard, captured, and referenced in poetry and song.
3. Staff and clients were given an opportunity to deepen and strengthen their relationships, hearing memories and stories that may not have been shared before. They had an opportunity to see each other more fully, in a new light, as the creative individuals they each are, leading to improved care.