For Phil Morrison, finding people’s favorite music is both a challenging and rewarding experience.
“I consider myself a music detective,” says Phil, a Music & Memory Volunteer at the Oak Hammock Continuing Care Retirement Community in Gainesville, Florida. “For most people, I start with the year they were born, then I usually play snippets of songs that they were likely exposed to as young people, looking for positive responses and trying to establish which genres they relate to the most. I also try to find out how the music can help them by working with their caregivers. Are they anxious? Are they engaging in activities? These are all the things the music can help with.”
Discovering a person’s favorite music is at the heart of Music & Memory’s personalized music program. But the answers aren’t always obvious and, sometimes, they’re downright hard to get — especially if the person is having trouble communicating.
“I mean, it doesn’t have to call people to sing and start talking,” says Phil. “Sometimes all we get in response is a finger tap or a toe tap. I worked with someone recently who offered no response initially, he was completely unresponsive, basically just head down. So we started playing music and compiled a playlist and gave it to his full-time caregiver. The next time we saw him, he had the earphones on and had a big smile on his face listening to the music. And the caregiver says he’s been talking a lot more.”
Last month, Phil was named the National Volunteer of the Year from the National Association of Activity Professionals (NAAP). Through his efforts, over 100 residents at Oak Hammock are benefiting from personalized music playlists, and the program is now considered a major part of providing comfort.
“I was obviously very honored to have been recognized, and happy to receive the award, not so much for me, but for highlighting the benefits that music can provide to those we care about,” said Phil.
We hope you enjoyed this story of connection. For more information about the Music & Memory program at Oak Hammock Continuing Care Retirement Community, visit: www.oakhammock.org.
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