Reminiscence with Rebekah at seniors sing-along

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This article was published 14/05/2021 (1841 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The music therapist who normally works at a Corydon-area personal care home has taken to YouTube to help spread the joy of music to older adults in the community, be that in Winnipeg or anywhere in the world.

Thanks to a New Horizons for Seniors grant, Rebekah Miller has been able to share songs and anecdotes with the seniors residing in the Convalescent Home of Winnipeg, and others beyond the home’s walls.

“Over the winter, I wasn’t able to go to the home in person, due to COVID,” Miller said. “We wanted a way to stream the music therapy sessions virtually, and came up with the idea of making recordings for YouTube.”

Miller now records two versions of Reminiscence with Rebekkah per week, with musical themes such as springtime, birds, flowers and rainbows or religious hymns. The first video is longer, at 45 minutes, with Miller singing and accompanying herself on a guitar. The second is shorter, at 20 minutes, and is intended for seniors with cognitive difficulties who may not be able to focus during a longer session.

“Every week, I also produce a package of material that I can send to the recreation staff at the home,” she said, adding she’s been doing the recordings at her home in Morden. “The PDFs allow people to follow along with the music, and they can be used as a starting point for leading a reminiscent period. The lyrics for each song are included for people to sing along, which is great for people watching in the community.”

Miller noted that, due to the pandemic, many seniors are isolating at home. “Seniors programs are shut down, people can’t go out to eat, they can’t visit with each other right now,” she said. “We were already creating the content, so we thought, why not share our music with other people in Winnipeg, in Manitoba and really, the rest of the world?”

The staff at the Convalescent Home is reaching out to seniors’ apartment complexes and other personal care homes and assisted living facilities in Winnipeg with the links to the weekly online sing-alongs, Miller said.

“Here’s an opportunity to have a great time singing for an hour,” she said. “It provides a connection and brings back memories. We sing some golden oldies and then I try to introduce a new song or two.”

Miller notes that the weekly sing-along isn’t true music therapy, in that she isn’t making a plan with goals for individual seniors or groups and documenting the results.

“At Convalescent Home, I do in-person music therapy with all those goal-oriented things,” she said. “The weekly shows are a sing-along facilitated by a music therapist.”

That said, she says music is amazing at changing mood for the better and helping people smile. “Music makes a connection between people, especially in times like these when we need it more than ever.”

The Convalescent Home of Winnipeg has a Music Channel which includes links to the YouTube videos at https://tchw.com/