Care home provider installs music streaming service after noticing 'worrying trend of wall to wall Vera Lynn'

Residents at Wellburn Care Homes have been listening to Adele and Slade, after the provider installed an online music streaming service due to concerns that care home residents tend to be given “wall to wall Vera Lynn telling them how white Dover’s cliffs are”.

The change came about after Ian Donaghy, head of engagement at Wellburn Care Homes and author of Dear Dementia, visited one of Wellburn’s 14 homes in the summer months and found they were playing 'Mistletoe & Wine' on the CD player.

On asking why they were playing a Christmas song in the middle of summer, one of the care workers replied "Oh everybody loves a bit of Cliff!"

After visiting numerous care homes over the years, he has noticed a “worrying trend of wall to wall Vera Lynn, telling us how white Dover's cliffs were. But looking around the homes, most of the residents were born in the 1940s. They would have had Elvis in their teens, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in their 20's, Elton in their 30s and punk & disco in their 40s. Dame Vera singing ‘We'll meet again’ when they hadn't met her the first time? Clearly something needed to be done”.

Mr Donaghy is now overseeing a pilot that has installed Spotify, the online music streaming service into four of Wellburn's care homes. He has found that the new approach to a more varied choice of music, has encouraged a wider topic of conversation. “Some of the conversations have revealed some surprises. One 90-year-old requested Adele's new album and another asked for a bit of Slade,” he says.

"Spotify is an infinite resource. And with so much choice, we can switch the ambience from calming to uplifting at the touch of a button.

“We can now create bespoke playlists for all sorts of reasons, whether it's to take people on a trip back in time or to set the mood for one of the many weekly activities on offer at the homes".

Resident Frank Hannaway went to his room and came back down with a harmonica and ended up entertaining the other residents with Ian Donaghy on guitar. "Frank's eyes fired up as his friends clapped along. And that's what this is all about. To see that kind of emotion, interaction and passion. That's the power of music".

Wellburn is now already making plans to roll the pilot out across all of their homes. “This is more than just evidence that music creates a togetherness and a sense of joy. It also creates a sense of belonging. Some songs make you laugh, others make you cry but they can all remind us who we are. And that's invaluable for all residents, and especially those that suffer from dementia,” says Mr Donaghy.

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