Harpist Nia is inspiring care home residents
AMUSICIAN-in-residence at a care organisation has revealed how a combination of music and art can provide a new beginning for people with dementia.
Nia Davies Williams, who works for the Pendine Park care organisation, has been bowled over at the way her music can transform the mood of residents, triggering their creative juices, tapping into latent memories and firing imaginations.
She says the type of music she plays affects the way people with dementia paint and how they paint it.
Mum-of-three Nia, a talented harpist, pianist and composer, is based at the Bryn Seiont Care Home in Caernarfon and in normal times also works at Pendine Park’s seven other care homes in Wrexham. Her work at Pendine Park saw her receive a gold award at the Welsh care Oscars at Cardiff City Hall in 2018. She won the Sir Bryn Terfel Foundation Wales Care Award for Promoting the Arts in Social Care. Nia was nominated by colleagues for bringing ‘light and joy’ into the lives of older people with dementia who can no longer communicate.
She is widely recognised as a leading authority on the use of music in dementia care and an article she wrote on the subject is soon to be published in a prestigious internationally-read Journal of Dementia Care.
After years of witnessing how her music has inspired the residents to produce colourful, intriguing and expressive artworks she said she has long considered writing in depth about the importance of music in dementia care. She hopes to follow it up with a book based around her pioneering work at Pendine Park.
Nia, the first musician in residence to be appointed by a Welsh care home, said: “It would not be true to say that our live music sessions are in anyway a cure or have medical connotations, but we are certainly pushing the boundaries in terms of recreational and lifestyle enrichment. Combining music with art sessions is enjoyable for so many residents. It can help relax participants and inspire them to pick up a paintbrush or crayon, to start creating spontaneous works of art. Sometimes the results are personal to them, sometimes they are more generic. Melodious music, especially played on the harp, would be reflected in broad lines or spirals in greens and blues. Detached or staccato music would often be depicted in more dotted or blunt style and in strong colours such as red, orange, dark blues and black. Louder music would also promote these stronger colours, with soft music generating the use of softer colours.”
Before the pandemic struck groups of schoolchildren, music groups or families have been invited to join the sessions.
Nia said: “Of course, at the moment, given the current strict COVID social distancing rules and necessary restrictions we are unable to interact with school groups in this way but hopefully in the future we can reinstate the communityinclusive sessions when it is safe to do so. We are fortunate here that the joy of live music has not been taken away and it definitely has helped ease some of the feelings of isolation residents may have experienced.”
It is Nia’s goal to enlighten more professionals in the dementia care sector about the benefits of using music as a therapeutic tool. She added: “The article focuses specifically on the benefits of combining music with art sessions and how integrating the two can have startling results, but I am also working on and researching the benefits of using music therapy in general to enrich the lives of those living with dementia. I hope to go into this in more depth in my book and offer a useful guide as to how to successfully introduce music and arts sessions to those living with dementia. Ultimately I would love to see musicians in residence employed as a matter of course at care homes all around the country.”
Company proprietors Mario Kreft MBE and his wife, Gill, appointed Nia following on from the success of recruiting Sarah Edwards as artist in residence more than 25 years ago. Mario said: “Pendine also supports around 30 arts organisations across Wales as well as community activities via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust and this is something we will continue to do as we come out of Covid. We are delighted that Nia is doing so much to impress on the wider reaches of the care sector the benefits of incorporating musical and arts activities in daily life at our care homes.”