Embracing life in the face of death: Community singing with the elderly

Abstract

Music has a long association with ritualised behaviours around grief, with the discipline of music therapy having devised specialised techniques to assist in the ritualised behaviours. Recent community music therapy work has embraced new areas of application, including choirs for the elderly. Singing and musical activity are commonly referred to as 'non-pharmacological interventions' in the context of elderly care and dementia. This chapter provides a summary of pertinent quantitative data along with qualitative reports from a handful of participants. The primary themes that emerged from the data were: social connection, expression and validation of grief, life review, mood improvement, phys..