Transforming healthcare through music-making for children & young people with complex needs

Songbirds Music UK
February 2022 Newsletter

Hello everyone and welcome to our latest newsletter, it seems only 5 minutes since we said hello last month!  As ever we are continually inspired by the hospital staff who make our projects possible, and who have enabled music to be accessed by children and families throughout the pandemic. Our February newsletter celebrates one of these very special projects, Sound Environments in Paediatric Critical Care at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. We really value the enormous contribution and commitment made by RMCH staff to make the project happen, and are excited to share with you a collaborative, recently published article which has helped us to consolidate our journey together as music, medical and healthcare professionals.

This week I am thrilled to speak at a webinar; What is the role of Higher Education in music for health initiatives? hosted by Philip Barker Centre for Creative Learning at the University of Chester as part of their Radical Ripples series. The event, chaired by Victoria Hume, Director of the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance is free to attend. Click here to book a place and hope to see you there!

We hope you enjoy reading!

Ros
Dr Ros Hawley, Director of Songbirds Music UK and Specialist Health Musician

Songbirds Spotlight…

This month we want to shine a light on our special flagship project; Sound Environments, which provides live bi-weekly music sessions, a programme of staff training and awareness sessions, and online resources for families and staff in the Paediatric Critical Care (PCC) unit at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. The project has developed over a period of 4 years, funded by the national music charity Youth Music and RMCH charity. Led by SMUK Directors and Specialist Health Musicians; Dr Ros Hawley and Mark Fisher, with Project Management support from SMUK’s freelance Programme Manager, Kate Catling, the project has been designed in collaboration with Eleanor Aston, PCC Ward Manager and her team, is linked to Therapeutic and Specialised Play Services and is currently being commissioned by Paediatric Critical Care.

Feedback from parents and staff on PCC has been nothing but positive:
‘Relaxing, makes me get goose bumps. Can see a difference in patient’s heart rate when playing close by’.
‘Amazing, made my child smile, smile and smile. Such a good experience. Thank you for bringing happiness to our room’.

‘The direct benefits to the patients from this project have been a calmer, less noisy environment, relaxation and restfulness, thus aiding and reducing recovery time and alleviating staff stresses.’
Eleanor Aston, PCC Ward Manager.

If you are a healthcare professional and interested in developing a similar residency in your ward setting, you can contact us at info@songbirdsmusic.uk

Songbirds Share…

We want to share with you a recent article published in the Journal of Music, Health and Wellbeing in their Autumn 2021 publication, entitled; Music at times of critical isolation: pivoting hospital music practice in paediatric critical care during Covid-19. The journal was written collaboratively between Dr Ros Hawley and Mark Fisher - SMUK Directors and Project Leads/Specialist Healthcare Musicians, Critical Care staff - Eleanor F. Aston, Ward Manager and Stephen Playfor, Consultant Paediatric Intensivist and Susan Fairclough, Head of Therapeutic and Specialised Play Services, profiling SMUK’s flagship ongoing Sound Environments project in Paediatric Critical Care at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Our work relies on fundraising and donations and we are so grateful for any donations you are able to make, no matter how big or small. If you would like to support Songbirds Music UK and help us to continue our work, please visit our donations page by clicking below.
Thank you!

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