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Credit: Music in Hospitals
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Music has the power to heal. Just ask the people who've experienced the work of Music in Hospitals, a charity that brings live music to health care facilities throughout the United Kingdom. We're not talking about volunteer choirs visiting sick people (although there's nothing wrong with that). These are professional artists who want to bring some quality entertainment to people who've been dealt a bad hand.
Music for Hospitals also has a relationship with Virgin Money, an arm of the record company headed by the eco-centric Sir Richard Branson. You can shop online at sites like Amazon and eBay via the Music for Hospitals web site and the charity benefits when you buy.
Bupa Care Services, the largest owner and operator of care homes for older folks in the U.K. raves about MiH, as it's known.
Concerts so far have been hugely successful with a variety of resident groups, including people with dementia, according to Bupa executives.
"Our residents are really benefiting from these live performances," says Siobhan Drane, Bupa Care Homes' community affairs consultant.
MiH has been around for more than 60 years and does about 5,000 concerts a year in hospitals, care homes, hospices, day care centers and special needs schools. The group's mission is to "improve the quality of life of adults and children with all kinds of illness and disability through the joy and therapeutic benefits of live music." Performers are paid a modest fee.
"Music forms part of the social fabric of our lives," the group says on its web site.
"Sharing the experience of a live musical performance can help reduce levels of anxiety, pain and depression, as well as break down social and cultural barriers. A live performance provides a focal point and an opportunity to participate in meaningful discussions after the event."
It sounds like we can all learn something from this program, regardless of our health.
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