Tea, Chats & Tunes Meath

Description

The Tea, Chats & Tunes 2025 (Meath) programme will deliver:

• A series of pre-project briefing visits that will engage with all settings before the commencement of the programme, allowing the Music & Health team to tailor the visits to meet the specific needs of each setting and their residents.
• Six Music Residencies across nursing homes, with four return visits per setting in June – September 2025 (24 visits). This sustained engagement allows musicians to build deep, trust-based relationships with residents and staff, creating a highly personalised and responsive musical experience. Special care will be given to Dementia-Specific Units, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity.
• CPD workshops for healthcare staff, which will enhance the long-term impact of the programme by empowering activity coordinators and healthcare assistants with practical skills to integrate music into daily care.
• Continued training & support for the team of Musicians, ensuring those delivering the programme are responsive to the evolving needs of the residents & settings throughout the programme.
• A collaborative Song-writing Initiative where residents, musicians, and staff will co-create new music by collating location-based memories. This will be professionally recorded to serve as a lasting artistic legacy of the programme.

In 2024, the programme engaged approximately 120 residents and supported over 25 healthcare staff with an artistic team of 7. The programme will continue to grow this engagement and celebrate five years of impact by laying the groundwork for an even stronger future—where live music remains a source of connection, identity, and joy for those in care.
In 2025, Tea, Chats & Tunes hosted a milestone live musical celebration, curated by residents, at Columbans Nursing Home, Meath. To celebrate five years of the Tea, Chats & Tunes evolving partnerships, this gathering welcomed residents, families & programme partners for a shared musical experience that reflects the voices, stories, and cultural identities of those at the heart of this programme. This live musical celebration was the perfect opportunity to continue to foster connections between residents and their families, musicians, healthcare staff, and inter-county programme partners and beyond.

As we celebrate this milestone year, Tea, Chats & Tunes 2025 is not just looking back at its successes but paving the way for the future. This year’s programme will serve as a catalyst for deeper local collaboration, reinforcing the role of live music as an integral part of care environments. Through thoughtful evaluation, partnership development, and a commitment to a resident-led series of visits, we will continue advocating for sustainable arts and health initiatives that place community voices at the centre.

Aim of Initiative

The Tea, Chats & Tunes (Meath) programme aims to deliver high-quality, person-centered live music experiences for older and vulnerable residents, ensuring meaningful engagement, shared cultural connection and support positive aging by providing creative engagement opportunities for older people in residential healthcare.
Since its inception in Meath in 2013 as a Music in Healthcare training initiative, Tea, Chats & Tunes has evolved into a recognised arts and health programme, which has been further developed over the past five years, as a response to the isolation experienced by nursing home residents during Covid-19. The initiative has demonstrated a lasting impact on well-being, social inclusion, and care practices. It offers high-quality live music experiences tailored to residents’ interests, personal histories, and healthcare needs.

Who is it aimed at

The initiative is aimed at residents in care communities across Meath, their carers and healthcare staff. Everybody in this setting can benefit from this programme.

3 Steps critical to success

1. Building Trust and Familiarity with Residents:

   A significant highlight of the project has been the deep relationships established over previous sessions, which have greatly supported the project’s delivery in settings where activity coordinators were absent or on leave. By maintaining consistency with the same musicians throughout the project, a strong sense of trust and familiarity was built with the residents, including those living with dementia. Even in settings where verbal communication was limited, there was a noticeable recognition of the musicians by the residents. This familiarity helped create a sense of comfort and safety, making it easier for residents to engage with the music sessions. The trust built over time allowed for more meaningful interactions, as residents responded positively to the continuity of faces and voices, further enhancing the success and impact of the music sessions. The musicians’ presence became a steady and comforting element within the settings, reinforcing a sense of family and connection among the residents

2. Adapting to the Environment:

   When faced with crowded spaces, the musicians found ways to adapt. In Beaufort, when residents were grouped together in a crowded dayroom, the musicians divided and spread themselves out in a way that allowed everyone to be included, even if it meant, at times, it
   was challenging for the musicians to hear or see each other easily. The musicians took the time to visit their rooms and offer short individual personalised music visits. This helped foster a deeper sense of connection despite the environmental constraints.

3. Encouraging Participation:

   With non-verbal residents, the musicians worked to read and respond to physical cues. This included observing facial expressions, body language, and even hand movements.
   For example, when they sang Don’t Worry for a non-verbal resident, the staff supported the resident who showed a strong reaction to the song. The smile on his face and the calming effect of the music spoke volumes, highlighting the non-verbal communication that was just as powerful as words.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Limited Verbal Communication: In many of the dementia units in this project, verbal
   communication was limited or non-existent. Residents in these settings often had difficulty
   expressing themselves when sharing their stories. Their non-verbal participation required
   creative thinking from the musicians to find alternative ways to communicate and connect,
   such as through body language, facial expressions, or the rhythm of the music.
2. Environmental Challenges: Certain settings were difficult to navigate, with overcrowded
   rooms, disruptive construction work, or spaces that didn’t allow for effective engagement. For example, in Beaufort, a construction project caused many residents to be crammed into a small dayroom, making it difficult for the musicians to engage with them meaningfully.
3. Low Energy or Emotional Challenges: There were times when residents were less responsive due to emotional or physical health challenges. For instance, one resident had recently lost a close friend and was visibly affected; her energy and enthusiasm subdued. In such moments, it was difficult to break through the grief or lethargy to engage in song or conversation.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. All three outcomes are resident-centric testimonies, as these testimonies are so important when measuring the success of a programme with older people at its heart. Providing a voice to people who may no longer be able to use theirs.

   Bringing Light to a Quiet Room – During a corridor visit, we encountered a man alone in a day room, lethargic and disengaged, with the television on. As we played, his demeanour transformed – he smiled, moved his hand to the rhythm, and became animated. Noticing our mandolin, he asked for traditional Irish music. As we obliged, his eyes lit up, and he let out joyful yelps of appreciation. The change was extraordinary – a complete “before and after” transformation that demonstrated how live music can breathe energy and joy into even the most disconnected moments.

2. Finding his Rhythm Again – We met a gentleman who used to play the bodhrán but hadn’t touched it in years. After a while, he asked a staff member to bring it to him. When she did, he held it like it was a long-lost friend and started tapping along with us. It was beautiful to see him reconnect with music that had clearly been a huge part of his life.
3. Empowering Residents and Families – In the dementia unit, a gentleman initially appeared
   disconnected, unable to communicate with his visiting wife. But as we played, he began singing snippets of choruses and clapping along. His wife held his hand and sang in his ear, visibly delighted by his increasing engagement. For a moment, the music seemed to take over, offering him peace and involvement while giving his wife a much-needed break. She later expressed her gratitude, touched by the safe, comforting space that music created.