Musicians are playing in Homerton Hospital’s neurological rehabilitation centre as part of Brain Injury Awareness month.
They work with the charity Music in Hospitals and Care to show the role it plays in recovery by helping to spark memories.
“Patients who have communication and memory problems sing along to songs,” the hospital’s leisure co-ordinator Alexis Azcueta explained. “They can remember a melody and most of the words, even if they can’t form sentences.
“Taking them back to a time before their brain injury can be quite emotional. It’s not necessarily a bad thing for patients to get emotional like this, which allows them to process their feelings.”
Music is used to help those with brain injury as well as those with stroke or other conditions affecting the nervous system. Most patients have had severe, life-changing trauma injuries, often needing long-term rehabilitation. Many also suffer with speech and communication problems.
But the music sessions makes a difference to help recovery in most cases.
The charity’s Elkie Jeffery, who plays a ukulele, regularly visits the NHS regional brain injury unit at Homerton with inter-active music sessions like Name That Tune to engage patients to use their memory.
Elkie said: “You can see live music lifting their spirits, on their faces and in their body language. It offers comfort and an uplifting moment at times of stress. It’s a joy to share music with people who need it.”
Brain Injury Awareness month raises understanding and supports those affected with rehabilitation through activities. Live music helps physiotherapy by building muscle strength and improving coordination.
Hospital advice to anyone caring for a relative or friend with a brain injury is to be “as simple as possible with words” and the language they choose. Being concise helps to start connecting with them.
Music in Hospitals and Care also help patients in neonatal wards for premature babies and dementia wards as well as neurological rehabilitation. The live music performances help build connections between patients and their families.
