Music Therapy with Apex Harmony Lodge

Since online learning has commenced, we’ve no longer been able to continue visiting Apex Harmony Lodge of Friday’s. This is a shame because I really look forward to going there every week and spending some time with the residents – it has really started to become one of the highlights of my week.

However, we have still continued with online sessions every Friday. Something that has really been challenging has been that not everyone has been as committed to attending and engaging online with the activities and tasks that we are assigned. Whilst, this is unfortunate, I’ve really decided to show perseverance, resilience and commitment in the activity. Looking at the positive side of things, as a local service group, we have really gotten a chance to collaborate more with one another.

Furthermore, this collaboration has been really essential to updating our portfolio and blog. Because we are usually so focused on the actual interactions during our service at school, we haven’t really gotten the chance to these things. I really enjoyed re-writing our service blurb together as a group. We all got the chance to volunteer to do a little bit for an upcoming video we are creating. We’ve even got the chance to look at some research – watching videos on Dementia and reflect on what we have learnt from each video together. Lastly something that I wanted to attach a picture of was a fun activity we got to do during one of our latest sessions – we each created a poster that reads #dementiaoutreach. I think that something that I will definitely take away from this experience is that there is always something we can do whether it is offline or online and that my motivation to engage shouldn’t depend on others.

How do you feel participating in this service has changed your understanding of dementia care?

Participating in this service has given me the opportunity to interact with several patients, and through these interactions, I have been made aware of the widely varying and unique stages that patients can fall under when it comes to dementia (an umbrella term), rather than there being a ‘one, fits all’ category. As a result, I have to come to the realisation that dementia care is necessitated – at times – to be extremely specialised and tailored to an individual’s situation.

Furthermore, one of the most important lessons I’ve learnt about dementia care came from one of the sessions a staff member from Apex Harmony Lodge ran. For me, she really highlighted the difficult ethical decisions that those who work in dementia care face everyday – such as balancing the needs of many residents, considering patient confidentiality, the potential for abuse and the benefits and risks of medicine. Personally as a volunteer, she also raised an ethical issue that provoked some thought. Often when we interact with dementia patients, we tend to unintentionally treat patients as though they are children. However, it vital to understand and remember that people with dementia remain the same equally valued people throughout the course of their illness, regardless of the extent of the changes in their mental abilities. This really a sparked a realisation in me and made me actively consider my behaviour during interactions and what I can do better.

What experiences have impacted you during our visits in season 1 and 2 – what were the challenges and successes you have faced? 

A significant experience that has held a lasting impact, has been the interactions I had with my first assigned dementia patient. New to the program, a sheet containing information about her was given to me. However, as the first session itself unfolded, I came to the realisation that not only were some details incorrect (such as the language she spoke), but that it had not prepared me for what to expect. A significant but persistent challenge during our sessions become communication. Moreover, her reluctance to listen to music persevered. Our programme endeavours to be a form of therapy for these patients, however at times we can be so fixated with our purpose to use the medium as a means of healing, that we can forget, that music may be not be that tool for everyone.

How do you feel you have learnt or developed your skills through this service? Recollect any significant moments you have had so far. 

When we think of service, we think of giving. However through each of the interactions I’ve had with different patients, I have had the opportunity to take away something – whether it might be a happy memory, a challenge I overcame, or simply a learning take-away. Initially, I was quite apprehensive about initiating engaging conversations with patients. However, a particularly joyful memory was when – to my surprise – I chatted about old Bollywood movies with a patient. Furthermore, he also shared his experiences as a teenager in Singapore. It made me realise that despite our differences, we had more common-ground on which to connect and converse, than what I had previously imagined.