Powerof Music

A plan for harnessing music to improve ourhealth, wellbeing and communities

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Contents
Foreword
Nadine Dorries MP Secretary of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Neil and Nicky Utley, Founders and Trustees, The Utley Foundation

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5

Chapter One: Why Now and What’s Needed?
Jamie Njoku-Goodwin Chief Executive, UK Music
Grace Meadows Campaign Director, Music for Dementia, The Utley Foundation

6

Chapter Two: The Power of Music in Action
Benefits of Music
Survey Findings

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10

Chapter Three: Music on the Ground
Play: Manchester Camerata
Sing: Farmers’ Choir
Dance: Dementia Disco
Care: MHA

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19
22
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Chapter Four: Recommendations
Four-Step Framework to Harness the Power of Music

24

Chapter Five: Conclusion

32

Methodology

34

References

36

Acknowledgements

383Foreword
Over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has had asignificant impact on many people’s physical and mental health.
Thanks to the huge personal sacrifices we all made, as well asa successful mass vaccine rollout, we are now able to deal withthe virus in a very different way: moving away from government
restrictions and towards personal responsibility. Now we mustturn our attention to the long-term rehabilitation of our personal
wellbeing, local communities, and national health.

Nadine Dorries MP
Secretary of State for the Department
for Digital, Culture, Media and SportIn my previous role as Minister of State at the Department of
Health and Social Care, I led on mental health, suicide prevention
and patient safety. In that role, UK Music and Music for Dementia
invited me to help kickstart this Power of Music project. At thelaunch meeting last April, we shared moving personal stories
of how dementia had affected our families and friends. I was
incredibly touched to hear how music can be used as a powerfultool to help care for patients, staff, and families alike, and it was
clear to me that more should be done to understand the social
value of music as well as the opportunities it presents.
One year on, I am delighted to introduce the outcome of this workin my role as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media andSport (DCMS). Having consulted across a number of sectors andindividuals, this report presents a number of recommendations.
These include proposals for establishing a cross-government
taskforce to respond to the Report’s recommendations, brought
together by a Power of Music Commissioner appointed tospearhead this work.

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Neil and Nicky Utley
Founders and Trustees,
The Utley Foundation

Since arriving at DCMS, I have seen first-hand thepositive impact music and the creative sectors canhave to improve lives. That is why we put the creative
industries at the heart of our COVID-19 recovery planand committed £2 billion to the Culture Recovery Fundduring the pandemic. It is also why we continue to see
the creative sectors as key to our levelling up aim of
unlocking the potential of left behind towns and cities.
This Government knows what music and the arts mean topeople, and we appreciate it is something the UK is truly
great at. I look forward to working with you to harness
the power of music and boost its untapped potential tosupport health and wellbeing.

The Utley Foundation is a private family foundation
established by Neil and Nicky Utley to make adifference to causes close to their hearts. In 2018,
the Foundation established the Music for Dementia
campaign.
UK Music and The Utley Foundation are proud topresent this report and are grateful to the manyorganisations and individuals who got involved andhad their say in its production. The result is an exciting
vision for the future, with practical recommendations
about how we, as a country, can use music to make us
all healthier and happier.
Harnessing the power of music is a cause dear to the
Utley Foundation’s heart. Since 2014, the Foundation
has invested almost £3 million in the music anddementia movement and established the Music for
Dementia campaign. A personal playlist can become apoint of connection for family members and friends.
A visit from a music therapist can calm a person in
A&E. Knowing to sing someone’s favourite tune atbathtime can help a carer in their work.
Practical lessons like these from music and dementia
organisations are combined in the report with lessons
from across the music sector, from those working inmental health, music education, music therapy, themusic industry and musicians themselves.
Born of partnership, the report is a rallying cry forwhat can be achieved if we all work together to share
the power of music and presents a blueprint that,
if followed, will weave music through the nation’s
COVID-19 recovery plans.

5Chapter One:Why Now and What’s Needed?
Welcome to this innovative report from Music for Dementia andUK Music. A first of its kind, this report sets out a big vision plan for
how we can harness the untapped potential of music to enhance
our health and wellbeing, as well as supporting our recovery andrehabilitation from the pandemic.

Jamie Njoku-Goodwin
Chief Executive
UK Music

Music played a pivotal role during the pandemic in supporting
people through the daily challenges of isolation, loneliness,
uncertainty, loss and stressors that none of us could havepredicted. Music was to people what they needed it to be inthat moment – motivation, inspiration, comfort, distraction,
stimulation, solace, connection, joy. As UK Music’s 2021 This
is Music report states, 57% of people say music has helped
them cope with lockdown and 59% said music has helped theirmental health and wellbeing. This data, along with an emerging
broader body of evidence, powerfully demonstrates how music
supported our individual and collective mental and physical healthand wellbeing. We witnessed that for ourselves as we watched,listened and were amazed at just how creative we can be withmusic as human beings to sustain us in the face of adversity.
We do not think, we know music transforms lives.
But why this report and why now?
COVID-19 has taken a huge toll on our health and care systems,
on our health and care workforce, and on our country’s collective
mental and physical health.

Grace Meadows
Campaign Director
Music for Dementia,
The Utley Foundation

There is an urgent need to reimagine health and social care in thiscountry, and the need to do things differently is already being
recognised by our health system. The Department for Health andSocial Care (DHSC) ‘Good for you, good for us, good for everybody’plan, published in September 2021, recently set out a framework
for reducing overprescribing to make patient care better andsafer. Importantly, the report highlights the need to build upon
important initiatives, such as social prescribing, to tackle theserious problem of overprescribing in health systems which has
6dramatically grown over the last 25 years. We know thatmusic has been effective in this area with music therapy
reducing the need for anti-psychotic medication in 67%
of people living with dementia. This has been further
reinforced by a commitment from the DHSC Secretaryof State for four million people to benefit from socialprescribing by 2024, in a speech delivered in March 2022.
This type of culture change around how we manage longterm conditions is critical if we are to reduce the relianceon medicine.

dementia care, music has an incredible power to improve
people’s lives. Across the UK there are many fantastic
initiatives and programmes providing vital services but
there is so much more we could be doing if the rightsupport, structures and integration were in place. Withbold and visionary leadership, cross-sector collaborations
and a joined-up approach, we can harness theextraordinary power of music and ensure that everyone
in our country can have access to the huge benefits music
can bring.

We need to harness the power of music much more
effectively to address some of these urgent and pressing
societal needs. We will be living with the impacts of thepandemic for many years to come, but it is clear whatneeds to be done to help us balance these impacts torecover and rehabilitate well.

The Power of Music is that different response to
those challenges we are facing. This report sets out afundamental repositioning of music in our collective
consciousness as a public health tool and a community
asset, alongside a bold set of practical, actionable
recommendations to help us value music for its fullworth. We want music to be seen as a necessity andan essential part of our public health strategy, nota luxury for a few. We want to use music to help
build communities, giving people greater access tomusical opportunities. To achieve this, it will require a
commitment from everyone.

This moment presents us with a unique opportunity to
do things differently with music. Through the processthat has underpinned this report, it is evident that we cantake some collective steps together and bring the worlds
of music and health and care much closer together andin doing so improve quality of life for many more people
across society.

Now, more than ever, we need to harness the power ofmusic to improve our health and wellbeing as we strive todo things differently.

Music is the soundtrack to our lives, with 74% of adults
saying that music is important to them and their qualityof life according to the UK Music This is Music report.
As a nation we are slowly beginning to recognise thatthe value of music goes beyond its huge economic andcommercial impact; however, we still have a long way
to go in helping people to understand the therapeutic
benefits of music to support health and wellbeing. Everyday, more and more evidence emerges about the healthbenefits of music. Whether it is in improving wellbeing
and quality of life, boosting mental health or supporting

The music’s calling.
Are you with us?

7Chapter Two:
The Power of Music in Action
Cost-effectivenessMusic therapy reduces agitation and the need for medication in 67% of people with dementia,
significantly reducing the spend on anti-psychotic medication.1

As well as providing value for money, musical interventions can also create a social return on
investment (ROI). For every £1 invested in the Silver Lining music and dementia project, thesocial return on investment was £1.93 – a 93% increase.3

Psychological Conditions
In a randomised controlled trial, participants receiving music therapy, in addition to
standard care, showed greater improvement in depression and anxiety symptoms
and general functioning at their three-month follow-up than those only receiving
standard care.4
Music can ease stress in both physiological and psychological outcomes. Research
has shown that music can reduce stress for patients undergoing surgeries andcolonoscopies, for children undergoing medical procedures, and for patients withcoronary heart disease.5

Neurodevelopment
Musical patterns can help provide a means of self-regulation of thoughts and processes for
those on the autism spectrum.6 Studies have found children with autism also have elevatedabilities in pitch processing, labeling of emotions in music, and musical preference whencompared to typically developing peers at the same age and IQ level.7
Because music is processed in both hemispheres of the brain, it can stimulate cognitive
functioning and may be used for remediation of some speech and language skill.8
Research from the University of British Columbia found music students perform better in school
than non-musical peers. UBC education professor and the study’s principal investigator, Peter
Gouzouasis said: “The students who learned to play a musical instrument in elementary andcontinued playing in high school not only score significantly higher, but were about one academic
year ahead of their non-music peers with regard to their English, mathematics and science skills,
as measured by their exam grades, regardless of their socioeconomic background, ethnicity, priorlearning in mathematics and English, and gender.9
Please see page 36 for a full list of references.

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The
B

Cost-effectiveness was powerfully demonstrated in one care setting in Scotland which reduced
the use of anti-psychotic medication by up to 60% in some residents when the GP prescribeda personal playlist as the first intervention staff should try when managing the symptoms ofdementia such as agitation and distress.2

t
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fts ofSocial Experiences & Challenges
It was estimated by the Big Chorus Census in 2017 that an incredible 2.14 million Britons are
members of a choir. The survey found community singing is effective for bonding large groups,
making it an ideal behaviour to improve our broader social networks.10

M

Researchers at the University of Oxford found that group singing not only helps forge social
bonds, it also does so particularly quickly, acting as an excellent and cost-effective icebreaker.11
Research proves that when you listen to music you like, your brain releases dopamine, a “feelgood” neurotransmitter. In this study, levels of dopamine were found to be up to 9% higher
when volunteers were listening to music they enjoyed.12cusi

Physical Impairments
Listening to music after surgery, and even during, may ease pain and the need for pain
medication. It can also decrease blood pressure and steady the heart rate.13
Playing music is the brain’s equivalent of a full-body workout. Playing an instrument
engages practically every area of the brain at once — especially the visual, auditory,
and motor cortex.14
Playing a musical instrument can help children with cerebral palsy to improve hand
movement and strengthen their sensorimotor skills.15

Physical Conditions
Music therapy has been shown to have beneficial effects for the non-pharmacologicaltreatment of motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.16 Alongside improved
psychological wellbeing, the use of musical rhythm can improve gait, coordination, balanceand postural control in the treatment and management of the condition. Research suggeststhat making music can alter gene expression linked with stress and immune function. 17
Music is proposed to be beneficial for relaxation in people with cardiovascular disease throughits simultaneous effects on psychological, neurological, immunological and endocrine processes,
leading to reduced stress and pain.18
Evidence suggests that people who engage with the arts are more likely to lead healthier lives,
including eating healthily and staying physically active, irrespective of their socioeconomic status
and social capital.19

9The Power of Music in Action
Survey Findings

What did we know already?

to our health and social
care systems due to thelevel of care required tosupport people to live
well. Successive policy
interventions have been
seeking to address thesechallenges by taking amore holistic view ofhealth and care, and callfor the inclusion of more
non-pharmacologicalinterventions, such asmusic.

Since March 2020 concerns have been raised over the
impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the UK’s
mental and physical health, and general wellbeing. As
we begin to return to some form of normality, we areunfortunately seeing the long-term effects in full force.
Recent research has shown our social lives, happinesslevels and health have suffered considerably since thefirst COVID-19 lockdown. In a report released in October
2021, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found thatwellbeing and happiness levels of the UK “deteriorated
across all indicators” between April 2020 and March
2021.20 The most recent annual declines in personal
wellbeing in the UK were the greatest since the ONS
started measuring personal wellbeing in November 2010
for life satisfaction, anxiety, happiness, and feeling thatthe things done in life are worthwhile.

A significant numberof academic reviews
conclude that musicalinterventions have apositive effect on pain,mood, and anxious or
depressive symptoms inboth children and adults insettings.

This problem isn’t just impacting adults. In 2021, the
NHS Mental Health and Young People Survey foundrates of probable mental disorders in young people haveincreased since 2017; in six to 16-year-olds from one innine to one in six, and in 17- to 19-year-olds from one inten to one in six.21

My wife has been suffering fromthe illness Alzheimer’s for about 10
years. I cared for her for four years and I
found it increasingly difficult to keep her
mind occupied. I read about ‘Singing for
the Brain’ run by the Alzheimer’s Society
and also ‘Together in Sound’ run by Anglia
Ruskin University. Both my wife and I
attended these sessions over a number ofyears. What I witnessed at these sessions
was quite amazing really, people could
be transformed by music, they came alive
again. My wife, although she was a teacher
before the onset of the illness, could notread a book. I tried everything to try to
make the process of following words acrossand down a page, but it did not work. When
we started going to the singing sessions, wewere given song sheets, it was amazing she
could follow the lyrics whilst singing withapparent ease - I watched hereyes light up as she sang
the words on the page.
Greg, Retired

Survey Respondent

This is further underscored by a 2022 review of 26
studies conducted across several countries that foundmusic provides a clinically significant boost to mental
health, improving wellbeing and quality of life. Music
interventions were linked to meaningful improvements
in wellbeing and the effects seen were similar whether
participants sang, played or listened to music. Thisparticular review suggests that the benefits of music tomental quality of life are close in effect to improvements
in mental health due to exercise and weight loss.22

Wherever you look, we are faced with challenges but webelieve the power of music gives us an opportunity for
positive change and a chance to build optimism.
The positive impact of using music to support andenhance mental and physical health throughout people’s
lives has long been documented in academic and social
research. Long-term and complex conditions, such as
dementia, continue to present significant challenges
20 ONS. (2021)
21 NHS Digital. (2021)
22 McCrary et al. (2022)

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Even more powerfully, we already know music can help
us recover and rehabilitate from the pandemic.

The findings from the latest randomised control trial
into music and dementia as published in The Lancet,
found that recreational group singing was beneficial for
older care home residents with dementia and depressive
symptoms. It led to clinically important improvements
in depression, as well as neuropsychiatric symptoms andgeneric quality of life.23 The research base underpinningthese findings is beginning to be recognised at thehighest levels, such as the Cambridge Institute for Music
Therapy Research at Anglia Ruskin University receiving
The Queen’s Anniversary Prize for their research withpeople living with dementia and their families.

Data from University College London25 suggests thatpeople who spent 30 minutes or more each day during
the pandemic on arts activities such as listening to music
have lower reported rates of depression and anxiety andgreater life satisfaction. In a separate study, an online
questionnaire was administered in 11 countries andasked participants to rate the relevance of wellbeing
goals during the pandemic, and the effectiveness ofdifferent activities in obtaining these goals. Music wasfound to be the most effective activity for three outof five wellbeing goals: enjoyment, expressing andprocessing negative emotions, and self-connection.26
Another study from Spain found participating in musicalactivities during the pandemic has been associated with
reduced anxiety and increased subjective wellbeing.27

A report from the WHO synthesised global evidence on
the role of arts in improving health and wellbeing. The
subsequent results from over 3000 studies identified
a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health,promotion of health, and management and treatmentof illness throughout people’s lives.24 This includes, bothactive (e.g. performing, interactive music making, singing)and passive (e.g. listening) acts of music. It also extends
from new-born babies all the way to elderly and end oflife care. Mood regulation, including expressing negative
emotions, maintaining positive mood, immersion
in heightened emotion, energising or relaxing, arerepeatedly cited as one of the most important reasonsfor engaging with music. We see this brought to life ona daily basis through the work of organsations such as
Nordoff Robbins, the UK’s largest independent music
therapy charity. Music is not only universally adored, butalso a universal tool for improving mental and physicalwellbeing at all stages in our lives.

These findings are in addition to the myriad of ways
we saw and heard music being used on a daily basis
throughout the pandemic to help people cope betterwith the stressors of COVID-19. It also sits alongside what
we have learnt from previous reports, consultations andthe wider literature and evidence base in relation to this
topic. That music has the power and potential to help
deliver key health and wellbeing outcomes is beyond
question. The mission now is to identify what needs to bedone to harness that potential and ensure that everyone
across the country can enjoy these incredible benefits.
This is why we decided to launch the Power of Music.

Launch of the Power of MusicIn April 2021, UK Music and Music for Dementia initiateda roundtable to discuss the importance of music tosupport health and wellbeing. Attendees included
Government Ministers and key stakeholders from music,
health and care sectors. This meeting had a particularemphasis on what more we could do together with musicas we recover and rehabilitate from the pandemic.

23 The Lancet. (2022)
24 World Health Organisation. (2019)25 UCL. (2021)
26 Granot et al. (2021)
27 Cabedo-Mas et al. (2021)

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We also heard about the importance of sharing goodpractice between different organisations and acrosssectors so people know what’s being done and how they
can replicate it themselves. Respondents suggested
it would be helpful for someone to pull together
everything that is happening in to one accessible place,potentially as an online resource.

Following this, we launched our own survey to identify
what the power of music meant to the key organisations
and members of the general public. Full details of
the survey can be found in the methodology chapter.
Following our thematic analysis six key themes wereidentified from the survey: collaboration and leadership;
investment; value; skill building; education andawareness; and community and access. This chapter willtake you through what we learnt about each theme.

Finally, respondents suggested it would be beneficial forsomeone, or a body of partners, to take on a leadershipfunction to bring all this great work together as it was
generally perceived that there is currently a lack ofleadership across this area. Leadership wasn’t perceived
as something which needs one person alone to take on,
but a collective group with a shared vision and goal tohelp take this work forward.

Theme one: Collaboration andleadership

Many respondents highlighted the importance ofworking together to achieve the best outcome rather
than prioritising one body over another or focussing too
much on one sector. Lots of responses mentioned theneed to join the dots between different organisations
and different activities going on already. People
mentioned the importance of working with local
community organisations, charities, schools, care homes
and creative bodies including the Arts Council.

Theme two: Investment

In some questions we specifically asked respondents toconsider what funding would be most useful to them ortheir organisation. However, outside of these questions
financial investment came up in a number of responses
unprompted. This highlights how crucial investment is forsome people and organisations.

We heard that for government this means getting
more engagement from ministers across different
departments and encouraging a cross-government
response. For the music sector this means involving
all aspects of music, not just music therapists andmusic practitioners who are skilled in working in healthand social care sectors, but encouraging high-profile
musicians where possible to highlight the role of musicin supporting health and wellbeing. Finally, for thehealth and social care sectors, who we were told often
need support from other bodies to embed music into
the care they provide, this means forming sustainable
and supported partnerships with music deliveryorganisations.

Some of the most common suggestions included
funding an umbrella body to take this on or oversee
bringing these sectors together. This links to the themeof collaboration and leadership. Respondents also
thought funding should be used to invest in training andequipment, including ensuring care settings have accessto music and Wi-Fi. Alongside this, long-term funding
for music therapy and therapeutic music interventions
through health and social care budgets was highlighted
as key. As so much funding is short term it can be hard to
see the benefits when people are often living with longterm or life-long conditions.

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Respondents also suggested funding venues, grassroot
charities and workshops so more people can drop in andsee the impact of music themselves or financing further
research studies, which can be used to justify introducing
music into new health and social care settings.

In our survey findings there
was some divergence ofMusic is a key tool for many
people – including myself – in handling
opinion about whether
mental health issues such as depression
it was always necessary
and low self-esteem. Personally, music is
to monitor or evaluate
my go-to remedy when I need a distraction
from my worries or a means to express myprogrammes, asemotions which I cannot express in words.
sometimes it can take
Playing a musical instrument requires meaway from the joy of
to be totally in the moment which helps me
to relax both physically and mentally - while
enjoying the moment.
playing or singing I am briefly removed
Others shared howfrom the aches and pains or normal life.
they need to evaluateMusic’s ability to touch emotions improves
the emotional wellbeing of both listeners
the programmes theyand performers… I realise that throughrun to receive funding.
participating in music groups I
Some respondents
have become part ofcommunities and createdtold us more concrete
lifelong friendships.
research is needed toJamie, Musician
measure the value ofSurvey Respondent
music in these settings,
as it would help justify theuse of music in health andsocial care settings. It would
also help raise awareness and provide practical tips on
how to use music in these settings.

Outside of financial investment, respondents highlighted
the importance of considering the wider societal
investment of using music to improve health andwellbeing across all ages and sections. This includes
giving weight to existing programmes or providing easily
accessible tools which health, social care settings andeducational settings would be able to use. It also means
investing time into building the profile of music as a nonpharmacological response to managing or living well withconditions.

Theme three: Value

We heard that there is a need for us to change attitudes
towards how we value music in society. Music is often
valued as an economic driver, or a signifier of how much
cultural activity is on offer. Within health and social care
it is seen as nice to have in health and social care settings
rather than a necessity. The same with education. And
yet, music is something we all cherish but we do not
feel it is something we can all engage with confidently
beyond listening to it. It isn’t yet valued as somethingthat can bring tangible benefits to our everyday lives
and that this needs to change if we are to harness
its untapped potential. This links with the theme ofeducation and awareness.

What was apparent through the survey responses is theneed for the right kind of research. We heard that not all
tools that are easily accessible are useful in all settings,
even if they must be used for funding. There needs
to be greater clarity around what is it about musicalinterventions we are trying to understand and why. Thatway, we can hopefully get a more practical and useful setof answers which allows us to really understand the valueof music.

When asked about how respondents monitor or evaluate
the value of the programmes they run or take part in, we
had a varied set of responses. It ranged from large scalequantitative and qualitative data collection to no formal
methods, just watching for smiles and enjoyment orusing anecdotal feedback.

Theme four: Skill building

When respondents were asked to rank what more themusic sector and government should do to support
education and training in music and health and social care
contexts, developing mandatory training programmes
14for care professionals (e.g. carers, link workers, social
workers) came first. Developing mandatory training
programmes within the training of health professionals(e.g. GPs, allied health professional, nurses, healthcare
assistants) came a very close second. This shows many
respondents clearly see a role for formal training to
improve the links between music, health and wellbeing
to help enhance and enrich quality of care and healthoutcomes.

Respondents believed more needs to be done to link thegreat work already being done with music in health andsocial care settings with schools, education settings, andthe Department for Education.

However, there is also a role for informal skill building,which includes the soft skills people can develop if they
are able to access the right resources easily. In our survey,
people shared their experiences of informal trainingor skill development by watching YouTube videos or
attending workshops. These tools for skill building can beincredibly effective for home carers or people who wantto effectively use music with friends or family members.
Some of these respondents didn’t see themselves
as skilled individuals because they’ve not had formal
training – but we certainly see them as skilled.

There are clear links here with theme one; collaborationand leadership. There are also links with theme four, skillbuilding, as people need to know about the benefits ofmusic in the first place to have a desire to build their skills
and feel motivated to use music to support their healthand wellbeing and those of others.

We also heard about the need to integrate health andwellbeing studies not only into primary and secondary
school education, but all the way up to higher education
settings, including undergraduate, post-graduate anddiploma studies for those in health, care and music.

Theme six: Community and access

The pandemic showed us you can maintain communityand connection through music. In the height of the first
lockdown people danced to music at a safe distance on
the street with their neighbours
and in Italy, people sangfrom their balconies toI have been told by adults with
autism that music therapy was the one
boost morale.

Theme five: Education andawareness

scs

Many respondents suggested that more needs to bedone to highlight the benefits of music with the generalpublic. A number of people expressed a desire for a
public campaign to showcase the benefits of music for
wellbeing so more people could appreciate its use inhealth and social care, for example a day of celebration
or a cross-media (online, broadcast, print) campaign.
Music was compared to sport, where there have been
many high-profile campaigns in recent years.

Our survey opened
for responses in June
2021, which means
our findings capture aunique point just before
the full reopening ofEngland, and partial
reopening of Scotland,
Wales, and Northern
Ireland in July 2021.
Several respondents
acknowledged theimportance of letting

Alongside this, many respondents saw education as
another key route through which to raise awareness.
People referred to the joy a child can feel when learning
an instrument or singing in assemblies at school.
15

thing that really changed their lives aschildren. When speech wasn’t forthcoming
and life seemed muddled and confusing,music provided structure, a means ofcommunicating and a way of relating toothers which felt non-threatening. Not only
did they gain skills in playing music but indexterity, turn taking, sharing, listening andanticipating what may happen next…Musiccan give us the confidence to do things wenever thought possible, and this
newly discovered boldness canbe generalised throughout aperson’s life.
Suzie, Music Therapist
Survey Respondentchoirs sing together again and highlighted this as anaction they wanted taken forward through this piece ofwork. Whilst choirs are currently allowed to sing together
again without the need for further intervention, thenumber of responses that referenced this shows how
much music means to people as something that allows
them to socialise and bond with others. This also showsthat not everyone always wants a digital solution, as
people use music as a tool and resource to socialise inperson, with both strangers and friends.

care homes shared their experiences of it being a tool
to bring musicians - people who often would not visit
care homes – into a new space, making care homes
somewhere people want to be rather than have to be.
They also shared stories of connecting generations ofvisitors through music. These respondents wrote about
the potential for care homes to be a place of music,
creativity and community, where people can make newconnections, but only if they are given the resources to
do so.

Unfortunately, our survey also showed that not
everyone, across lifespan or socioeconomic status, hasaccess to music in this way. This could be for geographicalreasons, as local activities aren’t always available inrural areas. It could also be because of accessibility or if
someone requires full-time healthcare. If you are a parent
or full-time worker you might simply not have the time
to attend events in person. These responses highlighted
the importance of having digital solutions available too,
as in-person offers will not necessarily help the hardest
to reach in society. What was clear from the responses isthat blended offers of digital and in-person services need
to be provided to reach as
many people as possible.
The opportunity to give backis a healer in itself. A lot of my fellow
musicians have felt very displaced witha lot of work not available during the
pandemic, leading to mental health issues.
Many of us have had to rethink the way
we make a living, a daunting prospect if
it has always involved doing what we are
passionate about. Therefore having theoptions or opportunities to use our skills
to help others as a job is something which
I believe many musicians will find infinitely
rewarding, increasing feelingsof self-worth, confidence andoverall mental and financial
wellbeing.
Charlie, Musician

Survey Respondent

Follow up workshops

Following the thematic analysis of the survey, these
themes were presented to a group of key stakeholders
during two sessions in September and November
2021. Invitees included important players from themusic sector, health and social care sectors and those
who represent the voices of both. We also invited civil
servants and policymakers.
In our first session in September, we discussed thethemes from the survey and identified skill building as
the lead theme for discussion. We asked the group to
consider how to upskill three key audiences: the generalpublic, the music sector and the health and social caresector. During this meeting we found the conversation
gradually touched on how to upscale existing
programmes. Overall, we heard many key ideas and new
suggestions, which directly fed into our ability to write
the first draft of recommendations.

It is also worthhighlighting we heard
from more respondents
who worked insocial care than any
other sector. These
respondents reflectedon care homes beingat the heart of the
COVID-19 pandemic
yet often undervalued
and overworked. The
respondents who use
music already in their

In our second session in November we presented adraft version of these recommendations. We shared theprocess of how we formulated these recommendations
and offered people a chance to feed in additional
ideas, suggestions or thoughts on the overall tone of
the asks. The session was invaluable to the final set ofrecommendations presented in Chapter Five of thisreport.
16

Conclusion: The question now
is what do we do with thisinformation?

As a result of our roundtable, survey, and follow up
workshops, what became really apparent is the collective
will, support, and appetite from across the sectors totake action. To do this we needed to do two things:
Firstly, we needed to articulate these findings in a reportand identify the recommendations that needed to betaken forward. It also felt important to do justice to thepeople who responded to the survey, taking the time totell us personal stories about how they use music in theirlives, and offering solutions to the current barriers.
Secondly, it is clear we must act now. It is obvious wehave a growing crisis on our hands, but it is also clear
how music can help us. We need to take stock of what wehave learnt through the pandemic by creating a blueprint
for the future, to make sure those lessons aren’t lost.
What you will read in Chapter Five is our proposal for
how to take action using what we have learnt so far.

17

Chapter Three:Music on the Ground
Play: Manchester Camerata
Manchester Camerata on using music tobuild community in areas with high levels ofpoverty and deprivation.

the University of Manchester. New music is created byputting the participants at the centre of the creative
process. Whether it is young people in schools or youth
clubs, or people with dementia and their carers, allcompositions and improvised pieces are created ‘inthe moment’ by the participants, in conjunction with
our world-class, professional musicians. These projects
take place in schools, housing schemes, care homes
and community settings across the North of England.
Our work operates within cultural education and healthand social care, and is especially focussed on areas of
economic/social deprivation.

Manchester Camerata orchestra is a registered charity,
working and performing in Manchester and worldwide
since 1972, and renowned for dynamic performances,innovative collaborations and our pioneering community
programme. Our purpose is to ‘make music that matters;
make music for change’.
The orchestra pops up in all sorts of places andcollaborates with a spectrum of artists attracting over
150,000 people every year to its concerts under theleadership of world-renowned conductor Gábor TakacsNagy. Our Manchester concert season (September–May)is complemented by residencies throughout the North
West, which provide international quality music-making inareas with little or no live orchestral music.

Our strategic priorities and overall aims for both ourolder and younger members of the community are
centred around creative music-making and its benefits,with inbuilt continuing professional development
for teachers, professional musicians and healthcare
professionals alike, in order to improve health andwellbeing. We moved into The Monastery, Manchester (inGorton) in November 2020, and are continuing our aim oflong-term intergenerational activity to positively impact
a community with high levels of poverty and deprivation
but with great pride in the area in which they live.

Our community programme is at the heart of theorchestra’s activity. By working in partnership with our
long-term strategic partner, Orchestras Live, this hashelped us to make more impact with this work. The
programme began over 20 years ago with the aim ofusing music as a tool to improve people’s lives, and ourmusic-therapy-based work for people with dementia
has been developed over the last 10 years throughpartnership and research with Professor John Keady at

18

Sing: Farmers’ Choir
Who would believe a groupof farmers could sound likethis?!

Karen Diamond, music therapist, on
boosting the wellbeing of farmers inNorthern Ireland.

The UFU invitedmembers from their
Mid and West Antrim
area to come along to ataster session in Autumn 2018. They publicised it throughnewsletters and sent text reminders each week. The
Northern Health and Social Care Trust funded my input,
provided a rehearsal space and refreshments each week.

Following the success of other singing for wellbeing
projects in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust(NHSCT) the Farmers’ Choir began as a six-week pilot. TheNHSCT had been working
with the Ulster Farmers’
Sometimes I came along
Union exploring what
and was in awful form but
strategies could be put
singing with others from ain place for farmers
farming background wasand farming families toaddress the issues of
uplifting and relaxing at thesocial isolation and thesame time… even though inpoor mental health andthe programme Derry Girls theyemotional wellbeing
claimed that “Protestants hateof farmers which had
ABBA” you got us and the First
been highlighted in 2019
Minister singing Super Trouper.
by Malcolm Downey,
A sight and sound I will neverPrincipal Inspector
forget!
Health & Safety Executive
Northern Ireland when hestated: “What we really need
now is action! UK farmers are renowned for the attention
they give to their livestock, crops and machinery, butwhat we need to remind them is that looking after theirown physical and mental wellbeing should always be thepriority”.

The choir had to meet in the evening after milking! So,a rehearsal time of 8pm was set. We thought we might
have eight people at most but 12 arrived at the firstsession and by week six we had 30 people aged between
40-80+.
The group were naturally concerned about singing in agroup and in particular that a music therapist was thefacilitator. It required some explanation that this wasn’t
therapy but singing for its health benefits. There wassome initial reluctance around the use of breathing
exercises and warmups but when I explained why I wasusing these techniques everyone joined in and it was
really encouraging
When you said
to see just how
relaxed thewe were going to singfarmers were
harmonies I thought you
as the sessions
were asking too much andprogressed.
we couldn’t do it – but I waswrong. This pushed me in agood way and I loved it!

19

Farmers

’ Ch

o ir

M a n c h e st

20

er C

am

er

at

a

D e m e n ti
aD

is c
o

MHA

21

Dance: Dementia Disco
Dementia Disco on using music anddance to boost mood and give care homeresidents, families, and carers a “propernight out”.

The power of music is a vehicle which allows people
to connect with themselves and others. It enables ourmembers to interact and engage with others in positive
ways, allowing us to access memories and emotions
which are sometimes hard to express. Research showsthat brain activity and memory are enhanced by listening
to music. The direct, emotional connection music canmake with people is equally important.

We run monthly discos, where our members choose themusic they want to listen to and we encourage themto talk about their choices with us, other members,
and their families and/or carers. In this way, the music
becomes a way for them to access memories.

We have found it easy enough to harness community
spirit and enterprise - if more people just asked and acted
so much more could be done. It is not about being a good
citizen, more about being an active citizen. For your own
benefit, and for others.

We also encourage our members to get up and dance,
although they do not have to. This can provide carers
with a short break or, more typically, the opportunity
to spend some relaxed and fun time on the dancefloor,
which some of them do not often get.
The discos are always incredibly positive, happy events,
with some people describing them as the highlightof their month. The timing of the discos (5-7pm) is
deliberate, as is the choice of venue – people havecommented that they feel as if they have had a “propernight out”, which seems to be really positive for them.
The music acts as a gateway to memories of positive
experiences and memories of past events, which we thenencourage our members to talk about and share.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we also organised acoach trip to the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool, which wasa wonderful opportunity for many of our members to
get out and visit somewhere some of them had not been
for many years. We had a fantastic time, dancing on the
Strictly dancefloor.

22

Care: MHA
MHA on putting music at the heart of thecare it provides for its residents.

Barbara was choosing to spend every day in her room
watching TV alone since her husband passed away lastyear. The activity coordinator hoped music therapy would
encourage her to participate in something. Barbara had
never played a piano before. However, in her one-on-one
music therapy sessions, Barbara really enjoyed playing
a Casio keyboard with lighted keys which automaticallyindicate the right keys to play. This was a big change forher and Barbara herself said how much she enjoyed thesessions. Since attending music therapy and using the
Casio keyboard, she also began attending the open musicgroup, which was unlike her. Her engagement in playing
the keyboard, and the benefits of this on her mood andher cognitive abilities has significantly increased her
quality of life.

As one of the largest employers of music therapists
in dementia care, weekly individual and group music
therapy sessions are provided to care home residents.
But it is not just the music therapists making the music
happen, care staff are trained and supported in deliveringmusic sessions alongside the music therapists and othermusicians.
Music therapy has been proven to ameliorate symptoms
of dementia, such as anxiety, apathy, depression andagitation. Music therapy plays a significant role at MHA
as music therapists are able to observe any changes
to a resident’s health and wellbeing and care use thisinformation to inform care staff of changing needs,
helping to enhance staff care planning and delivery.

To us at MHA, the power of music signifies music’s
potential to ‘unlock’ something inside us.

MHA is passionate about seeing people for who they
are beyond their diagnosis and in music therapy, music
therapists are able to identify a resident’s abilities. They
use this knowledge to advise staff on tailoring daily
activities to stimulate and exercise these remaining
abilities and skills.
MHA is the first care provider to develop a music strategy
for all its services. In the future, music therapists will havean advisory role to help staff embed playlists, singing andother musical activities in the everyday life of its service
users across all of its services – truly embedding music indementia care.

23

Chapter Four:
Recommendations

Four-Step Framework to Harness the Power of Music
Step One
Demonstrate leadership by appointinga Power of Music Commissioner, setting
up a cross-government taskforce andestablishing a cross-sector consortium.

Step Two
Mobilise support for and engagementwith the power of music through anational campaign and creation of an
online resource centre.

Step Four
Combine existing funding and seek
new focused investment to make music
more accessible for all.

Step Three
Integrate music into our health, careand education to unlock its full potential
to support our national health andwellbeing.

24

of the most important tasks for the Commissioner will
be to help bring together a government taskforce anda Life with Music Consortium (for more information see
recommendations 2 and 3). Specifically, they would chair
the Consortium whilst being actively involved with thetaskforce. They will also act as the link between the crossgovernment taskforce and the Consortium.

Our society is living through one of the most challenging
periods it has experienced in living memory. We are facedwith increasingly acute and complex issues that needcollaborative and joined up solutions. While music is nota silver bullet for the issues we are facing personally or
as a society, it can be used to help us recover from thepandemic in all aspects: health, social care, education,social justice, culture, community, economy andcommerce.

The Commissioner would advise, support delivery andhelp implement the recommendations set out in thisreport and as the programme develops, they would help
think up new recommendations and ideas to take us in to
the next phase of the Power of Music. They should also
ensure equal representation across the devolved nations
within the taskforce and Consortium. The Commissioner
would also be responsible for ensuring diversity ofrepresentation within the consortium as well as throughthe scope of the programme of work.

With the right structures and support in place, ourmusic sector, and its cross-sector partners, can help tolead a path through recovery that recognises that we
can use music to do things differently to achieve better
outcomes for all.
Using what we have learnt so far, UK Music and Music for
Dementia have developed this set of recommendations
to ensure a collaborative and collective approach istaken to harness the Power of Music. Crucially theserecommendations aren’t just for one group as all sectors– government, the health and social care sectors andthe music sector – will have a part to play. This four-stepframework outlines how we can position music into moreof a key role for addressing some of the major societal
issues we face today, as well as supporting rehabilitation
and recovery from the pandemic.

Recommendation two: Establish a cross-government
taskforce made up of Civil Servants from DCMS, DfE,
DHSC and NHS reporting to Ministers
A cross-government taskforce should be formed withrepresentatives from Department for Digital, Culture,
Media and Sport (DCMS), Department for Education(DfE), Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC),NHS England, and be chaired by a Minister, or co-chairedby multiple Ministers. The taskforce could bring together
different areas of government to co-ordinate a cohesive
strategy to better integrate music into health, social
care, and wellbeing on a policy and legislative level, andrespond to the recommendations made in this report.

Step one: Demonstrate leadership

Recommendation one: Appoint a power of music
Commissioner
Our research has shown we need real leadership to bringthis work together. A Power of Music Commissioner
should be appointed to navigate, spearhead, join up andencourage action across the different sectors.

Respecting the fact this taskforce would be Westminster
based, it is recommended that similar bodies are
established in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to
feed into the overall objectives of this programme ofwork. These bodies could be led by organisations which
already work in this area.

The Commissioner will act as a champion for music,
health and wellbeing. Their focus will be on connecting
existing priorities across policies and sectors as well as
creating new priorities based on their own expertise. One
25

The taskforce would meet regularly, with relevant
advisors or expert observers invited to join meetings
where appropriate. This taskforce should ensure music iswritten into all relevant government strategies e.g. thenational dementia strategy, learning disabilities, autism,
mental health, child development – even Levelling Up - sothat government policy reflects the aims of this report
and the taskforce itself. This taskforce would encouragea unified working relationship between these three
key departments’ and ensure the music and wellbeing
agenda stays on the political radar. The taskforce
should also be a mechanism for inter-departmental coordination across a range of government departments
and should be actively looking for ways to engendercross-departmental action.

change through music. They could also commission anddisseminate further research.

Recommendation three: Establish a Life with Music
Consortium, made up of representatives from thehealth and social care sectors and the music sector as awhole.
The Commissioner would lead the creation of a Life withMusic Consortium. Similarly to the cross-government
taskforce, this group would also help take forward thisset of recommendations and co-ordinate and join up themany players who can make music more central in ourlives.

Step two: Mobilise public support
for and engagement with thePower of Music

It would not need a physical presence but would be agroup of passionate individuals representing the key
organisations. A vital function of the consortium would
be to work in alignment with the cross-government
taskforce and contribute to the cross-government
meetings when relevant.
A priority for the Consortium should be ensuring
increased integration of music as a core offer of healthand social care. It should work proactively with all
relevant bodies to ensure that a commitment to music
and wellbeing becomes integral to organisational policy
and delivery.

Recommendation four: The Consortium, with thesupport of government, the health and social caresector and the music sector should lead a publiccampaign to highlight the social and health benefits ofmusic.
We need a public campaign to bring to life and celebrate
the central role music can play in our lives and show just
how much it matters to us all. The aim of this campaign
should be to mobilise, upskill and inform the public of thehealth and wellbeing benefits of music. The campaign
should be engaging, inclusive, inspiring, diverse and act
as a celebration of the power of music.

The Consortium would act as an independent bodycomplementing the work of the taskforce. It would aim
to operate at scale, bringing together the necessary
stakeholders from across sectors (health, social
care, music, community, third sector, commercial,philanthropy) to work together to deliver a vision that
truly embeds music into our lives. It would work withpartners from a range of sectors, including corporate,technology, broadcasting and funding to undertake arange of national activity such as leading campaigns,
coordinating and disseminating funding and sharing
learning and developing partnerships to create social

This campaign programme should run over a period of
three years and help to change the narrative aroundmusic – it is not just a nicety, it is a necessity in supporting
our health and wellbeing. By the end of the three years
everyone in the UK should know about the health andwellbeing benefits of music, in the same way most26

people now know exercising can boost endorphins. We
want the general public to know they can ask their doctor
for more information about how they can use music tosupport their health and wellbeing, and we want healthand care sector practitioners to know where they can go
to learn more about using music in health settings andhow to help make music a part of the care they provide.

with dementia. We saw an increase of activity in this area
during the pandemic. However, nothing has yet been taken
to scale to facilitate mass take-up or integration into healthand social care systems.
This recommendation calls for a joint effort from the musicindustry, technology providers and cross-sector groups towork with end-users to create a dynamic, creative, one-stop
resource for people wishing to use music in their care forthemselves and / or that of others. There is already a live
commitment from Universal Music UK to lead on the initialdevelopment of the resource and they are actively seeking
to develop partnership with others to form a consortium ofpartners to foster the joint effort.

The campaign would bring together the many strands ofthe music sector, music education, health and social care,
cultural, broadcast, commercial partners, government,
and the third sector but have the interests of the generalpublic at its very core. It should also work to address how
we follow-through on the increased awareness created
and aim to ensure we deliver the benefits across society
for all. The campaign’s programme of work should be inpartnership with broadcast, online, outdoor and print
media. It will allow people to tell their musical stories andraise awareness of how people can use music to support
themselves and their friends and family through music.
The annual national campaign event should tie into asignificant moment in the care sector’s calendar such as
National Day of Arts in Care Homes or World Music Day.
In line with the government Levelling Up aims, a national
campaign would help instil pride in place, people’ssatisfaction with their town centre and engagement inlocal culture and community.

The initial focus for the resource will be on dementia,
with the longer-term aim of adapting and developing thecontent for wider health and wellbeing. There is a wealthof current digital offers to draw upon (such as m4dradio.
com, BBC Music Memories, Music for My Mind, Playlist forLife to name but a few), however, getting the design rightfor people living with dementia involves creating clear andsimple user experiences, with content that is developed
based on the latest evidence and research.
The resource would become the place where people go toaccess music that is right for them at their point of need;
where GPs, link workers and other healthcare professionals
can refer people as part of their social prescription; wherefamily and professional carers can find advice, information,access training, and discover in-person activities happening
near them; where music can be accessed easily andrightsholders protected. The resource would play a key rolein supporting the delivery of social prescribing.

Recommendation five: Creation of a dynamic,
interactive online resource to bring together
information, science, music, training that helps tointegrate music into existing models of health andcare.
Digital technologies develop and create newopportunities to embed music into health and care, bothfor those living with conditions and those providing care.
Over the past ten years there have been many digital
innovations aimed at helping people to access music in
new and meaningful ways, particularly for those living

The resource has the potential to be a significant solution
in helping to make music easily accessible at the pointof need and will therefore require multiple investment
sources to develop and sustain it as a leading resource forpeople living with dementia and their carers.
27

Step three: Unlocking our musicalpotentialcommitment to include a music offer becomes integral
to organisational policy. This includes introducing theprovision of music-based services where it isn’t alreadyavailable and means commissioners build music into
the services they provide at regional and local level. A
dedicated person could also be assigned within each
integrated care system, clinical commissioning group todrive forward the inclusion and use of music in healthand social care pathways. This will help to build local
community sector alliances that incorporate creative
organisations and freelancers. The online resource andnational campaign recommended in Step Two would help
to initially support link workers find the resources theyneed to make this happen.

Recommendation six: Offer the public greater
integration between music and the medical and social
care they receive through adaptations within the
integrated care system, clinical commissioning groups
and Care Quality Commission.
There is a clear need for better integration between thehealth and social care sectors around the inclusion ofmusic as part of health and social care pathways. Whilst
the training in recommendation six is an excellent place
to start, more needs to be done to ensure that everyone
has equal access to a musical social prescription. This
includes NHS Trusts and local authorities designing theircommissioning plans and care pathways to include music,
in a way which is culturally inclusive and reaches a diverse
audience.

To further ensure integration across the health andsocial care systems, the Care Quality Commission(CQC) should explicitly expect services and settings toinclude music as part of their care. Inspectors should betrained in assessing musical provision as part of healthand social care services and to include observations

All relevant institutions, including the National
Academy for Social Prescribing, should ensure that a

To address particular aspects of health and wellbeing such as psychological andLevel 3
emotional health and wellbeing to improve quality of life e.g. music therapyMusic as a bespoke,in health and care settings to alleviate and ameliorate symptoms of chronic,
prescribed non-pharmacologicalacute, long-term/ life-long conditions, such as dementia, depression,intervention
physical disability, learning disability.
People can participate in music and gain a wide range of benefits to
support, maintain, improve their health and wellbeing, e.g. individualand group musical activities that are designed with a health andwellbeing aim – dementia choirs, singing for lung health, music
for stroke rehabilitation.
All people can experience and enjoy music at any time toenhance and enrich their health and wellbeing e.g. singing,listening to personalised music, playing a musicalinstrument, experience live music in the community,
and attending social music events.

Level 2

Music as a specific, targeted activity

Level 1

Music as a universal experience28

and feel empowered by their work setting to use thoseskills. This would also encourage employers to regard
musical skills as a valuable asset held by their workforce,equipping practitioners to do the best job they can andproviding people with the best possible health and social
care.

in CQC inspection reports. To support this process, allhealth and social care settings inspected by the CQC
should be trained in how to talk about the benefits ofincluding music as part of the health and care provision
they provide. This would help to increase healthy life
expectancy and improve well-being in every area of theUK.

A module at this scale would require government
support to establish and accredit it by working alongside
health and social care training bodies, NHS providers,care providers, the music sector, music therapy
professionals and higher education providers. As has
been seen already with the integration of NHS equality,
diversity, and inclusion training, the impact of training
programmes can be significant in changing approaches
and cultures of working practices.

The following infographic shows a framework fordelivering music to support health and wellbeing acrossthree levels of interventions. This was originally designed
for musical interventions for people living with dementia
and based on the NHS Comprehensive Personalised Care
Model.28 This model has been adapted for a wider healthaudience.
Recommendation seven: Establish, accredit andembed a training module for all health and social carepractitioners, to support the role of music in healthand social care.
Music training should be a core part of the upskillingoffer within health and social care sectors; within
three years, we want to see every health and social
care professional offered a module of training on theuse of music in health and care. A 30-minute, focused,
informative module could be hosted on the online
resource centre and would provide health and social carepractitioners with the tools to develop their skills. Thisupskilling should be available for all health and social carepractitioners, including link workers, who alongside GPs
are leading on delivering the roll out of equal access to amusical social prescription to help achieve the Universal
Personalised Care Plan as part of the NHS Long Term
Plan.

Whilst we know this recommendation is vital to theoverall aims of this report we also recognise the immensepressures and demands the pandemic has imposed on
the health and social care sector. We will therefore workwith the health and social care sectors to find the best
way to integrate and embed this service.
Recommendation eight: Establish, accredit andembed a module for musical care training routes atundergraduate, postgraduate, diploma level andvocational routes.
The government and music sector should work withhigher education providers to establish, accredit, andembed modules on the use of music to support healthand care; within five years we want all post-16 music
courses to be enabled to include a module on using musicin health and social care contexts, including music andwellbeing. This includes undergraduate, postgraduate
and diploma level.

This training would mean that every health and social
care practitioner would be supported to understand thebenefits of music, have access to training in basic skills
in how to use music as part of the care they provide

Today, a career in music means much more than purely
being a performer, for many being a musician is aportfolio career with many interesting facets, which can

28 Music for Dementia. (2020)29

Recommendation nine: All children of school age
should have access to a rich musical education, which
can act as the foundation for teaching children about
the benefits of music for their health and wellbeing.
There is clear evidence which shows the inclusionof music in the school aged curriculum can improveacademic achievements and social development. We
would like to see an increase of music in the national
curriculum so the number of primary and secondary
school aged children achieving the expected standard inreading, writing and maths can reach its full potential.
Music is a vital part of education for all, and all childrenof school age should have equal access to a rich musicaleducation.

include this sort of work. We have an incredible array ofmusical talent across a range of genres in this country
and for many, performing full-time is not viable for avariety of reasons. At the same time, we are becoming
more alive to the use of music in health and care settings,
yet we do not have the trained musical care workforce
to meet this growing need of non-medicalised care. A
more readily available module on health, social care andwellbeing would provide musicians with the potentialof a career in musical care and excite them to use music
beyond performance.
For those following vocational routes, there should anoffer of a dedicated programme for musical care training
as part of current musical training routes. This should
sit alongside a training programme for those who havealready trained or are looking to diversify their career.
This would provide musicians with an exciting career
option they could develop alongside their performanceskills. Many in music alreadyrun a portfolio career,Sing Up!
and this could nicely
In response to the recommendations
complement the workof the Music Manifesto published in
2007, the government invested a total
many musicians areof £44 million in a national singing
already doing. This
programme to kickstart singing inwould also ensure muchschools again. Sing Up! was led by agreater diversity in ourconsortium of partners, made up ofYouth Music, Faber Music and the Sagemusical care workforce if
Gateshead. Children’s charity Youth
all musicians, regardlessMusic was the lead partner, with Faberof their training
Music overseeing the national singing
route, have access toresource, including the Song Bank
library, while advertising agency AMV,
an inclusive training
BBDO led a media and PR campaign
module.

Working with the National Plan for Music Education
and across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland andEngland, pupils from key stage 1 to 4 should also betaught about the benefits of music to support theirhealth and wellbeing. This could be done through thepersonal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum
whilst fitting in to the wider programme for integrating
more music into school teaching. There is alreadygreat work being done in this area by the BRIT Trust.
Founded in 1989, it was set up by record labels and the
BPI to promote education and wellbeing through thetransformative power of music to support people of all
backgrounds into reaching their full potential.
Bringing music to school-aged children will benefit
society as a whole and allow us to bring discussions
on the role of music in health and care to the widest
possible audience. It will help inspire a new generationof musical carers, practitioners and music therapists andlet music flow into the home of every child. It will teachchildren to see music as more than just a hobby as theylearn about the benefits of using it for self-care, throughadolescence, adulthood and beyond.

highlighting the benefits of singing.
The Sage Gateshead led the workforce
development programme, which aimed
to build the confidence and expertise ofteachers and musicians so they could
lead and support children’s singing
activities.

30

Step four: Combine existingfunding and seek new investment
to make music more accessible forall

We need to make routes into training as a music therapist
or therapeutic music practitioner more inclusive andremoving the financial barriers would significantly
increase the diversity of the profession. This would also
support the government aim to significantly increasehigh-quality skills training across every area of the UK.

Recommendation ten: Combine existing funding fromgovernment, industry and philanthropy to upscale
existing programmes and establish new opportunities,
making music for health and wellbeing more accessible
for all.
Post-pandemic, public finances are under significant
pressure in all areas. The challenge therefore is to makeexisting funding in the system work smarter, alongside
investment partnerships from new partners to deliver
national and local programme. These should involve
government, private philanthropy and corporates
from across sectors. From the evidence base, making astrategic decision now to invest in embedding music into
the delivery of health and care will improve public healthimmediately and produce financial savings over time.

Alongside national programmes, there is a need for
greater and more sustained funding at the grassroots
level to ensure the long-term sustainability of local
projects and programmes. This includes funding smallerscale charity initiatives and workshops, which withthe right investment would be able to reach a greaternumber of people. Local opportunities are vital tocommunities as not everyone will want to, or be able
to, access national programmes. Therefore, being able
to access something locally and on a smaller scale will
ensure personalised opportunities for everyone.
Finally, any multi-sector investment plans would do wellto consider funding further research to help support theaims set out in this report.29 This is also reflected in the
Evidence Summary for Policy, which put forward a seriesof recommendations for how to invest in future researchor academic collaboration to build the evidence base.
Further research would ensure any changes to legislationor new programmes are rooted in evidence to ensure
they are as effective as can be. Whilst there is great
evidence cited throughout this report, there is always theneed for more up to date - and more detailed - research
to be conducted to encourage evidence based policy
making and training.

New financial investment could be used in a numberof ways, for example, to establish national musicprogrammes, including a National Singing Programme
and a National Music-Making Programme. These would
provide live, interactive musical experiences and ensure
everyone has access to this type of musical opportunity
to support their health and wellbeing. A multi-sector
backed national music programme would provide
millions of new people with access to the benefits ofmusic and bring a revived sense of community to many
areas in the UK.
Recognising national programmes would increasedemand for skilled practitioners, greater funding could
be allocated to training new music therapists who might
not otherwise have access to a career in music therapy.
29 Fancourt et al. (2020)31

Chapter Five:
Conclusion
Music is powerful.
We hope this report leaves you in no doubt about this.
We also hope it leaves you in no doubt about its value
as a public health tool and that we need to be using it
more to improve, enhance and enrich our individual andcollective health and wellbeing.

Across this project we have been struck by how keencolleagues from across the music sector, health and social
care sectors and government have been to engage with
our discussions. We extend a huge thanks to everyone
who attended our roundtables, workshops or spoke to us
about this work. Your contribution and passion have been
truly invaluable in making this report come to life.

We have highlighted the need to position music at thecentre of how we recover and rehabilitate from thepandemic across all strands of society – health, social
care, education, culture, economy and commerce. It
has explained why we need to use this opportunity totransform how people have access and opportunities toutilise music, and the cultural sector more broadly, toimprove our health and wellbeing.

But crucially this is not the end: it is the beginning.
We are only at the beginning of understanding
music’s full potential. We want this report and its
recommendations to be part of the foundations for along-term plan to harness the power of music. With theright structures and support in place, our music sector,
and its cross-sector partners, can help to lead a paththrough recovery which recognises that we can use music
to do things differently to achieve better outcomes forall. UK Music and Music for Dementia have started thiswork but now it is up to all of us to make it a reality.

Our survey findings showed the need for further
collaboration and leadership, investment, and skillbuilding. It also showed the need for a greater value tobe placed on music, through education and community
access across different sectors, places, and people. Our
survey enabled us to hear the very real way respondents
use music in their everyday lives and the genuine joy
people find not only in using music to alleviate their
symptoms or stressors, but their readiness to share thiswith others.

The music’s calling.
Are you with us now?

This piece of work presents a significant opportunity for
the UK that we must act upon now. As a country with animpressive musical sector, we have many of the tools inplace already. Given the current pressures on our national
health service and social care sector, we could deliver
something extraordinary if we work together to harness
the power of music.

32

33

Methodology
About the Survey• Improving physical health by aiding lung capacity,

The Power of Music survey ran from June to early July
2021. It was promoted on social media and sent to key
stakeholders across both the music industry and healthand social care sectors. It consisted of mainly qualitative
questions and took respondents on average 15 minutes
to complete.

stamina and heart health• Dancing to music improving mobility• Providing children with a sense of being, place andactivity to focus on, particularly potentially vulnerable
childrenPeople noted that music has a similar impact as exercise
in releasing endorphins, but the effects are lesser known
and appreciated in comparison to sport. Generally, theway music can improve quality of life and bring joy wasmentioned by a significant number of participants.

The first question allowed people to identify whether
they were responding on behalf of an organisation or as
an individual. Of the 209 responses we heard from:• 90 individuals• 42 health professionals (including care home and NHS

Once the survey closed, we thematically analysed theresults. This was followed by two workshops with crosssector stakeholders to explore key themes and test the
final set of recommendations

workers)• 33 charity or community initiatives• 32 music organisations• 10 music and health initiatives• 2 council or university bodies
In our survey, respondents highlighted several ways theyuse music to help with physical and mental health, or
cognitive issues, as well as how it can be a general benefit
to wellbeing and happiness. People shared heartwarming
and personal stories, as well as what they do as anorganisation. Some examples include:

The quotes used in the survey findings chapter are
from real individuals, but their names have been
pseudonymised and personal details removed.
Permission was sought for us to use these quotes.

• Supporting people with dementia living in care settings• Helping adults with severe learning difficulties throughimprovement of concentration, developing reading
skills and self-confidence, willingness and ability toconcentrate, sense of community and belonging andself-expression• Helping people manage depression, PTSD, and a rangeof other mental health conditions• Bringing people together or helping people who feel
isolated to be connected with others
34

35

References
Infographic references
Cost Effectiveness
1 APPG on Arts, Health, and Wellbeing. (2017). Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing. Available: https://www.
culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk/appg-inquiry/
2 Playlist for Life. (2018). Playlists reduce medication – Lillyburn Care Home. Available: https://www.playlistforlife.org.uk/
playlists-reduce-medication-lillyburn-care-home/
3 Hegarty, S, (2012). Adult and Community Learning Fund Forecast of Social Return on Investment of Silver Lining at The Sage
Gateshead.
Psychological Conditions
4 Cambridge University Press. (2018). Individual music therapy for depression: randomised controlled trial. Available: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/individual-music-therapy-for-depressionrandomised-controlled-trial/A1CD72904929CECCB956F4F3B09605AF
5 Martina de Witte, Anouk Spruit, Susan van Hooren, Xavier Moonen & Geert-Jan Stams. (2020). Effects of music interventions
on stress-related outcomes: a systematic review and two meta-analyses.
Neurodevelopment
6 National Autistic Therapy. (2016) Music therapy and autism. Available: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/
professional-practice/music-therapy
7 Stanutz, S., Wapnick, J., & Burack, J. A. (2014). Pitch discrimination and melodic memory in children with autism spectrum
disorders. Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 18(2), pg 137–147.
8 Wan, C. Y., Demaine, K., Zipse, L., Norton, A., & Schlaug, G. (2010). From music making to speaking: engaging the mirror neuron
system in autism. Available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2996136/
9 University British Columbia. (2019) Music students perform better in school than non-musical peers. Available: https://www.
med.ubc.ca/news/music-students-perform-better-in-school-than-non-musical-peers/
Social Experiences and Challenges
10 Voices Now (2017). The Big Choral Census. Available: http://voicesnow.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Voices-Now-BigChoral-Census-July-2017-1.pdf
11 Launay, J. and Pearce, E. (2015). Choir singing improves health, happiness – and is the perfect icebreaker. Available: https://www.ox.ac.uk/research/choir-singing-improves-health-happiness-%E2%80%93-and-perfect-icebreaker
12 Salimpoor, V., Benovoy, M., Larcher, K. et al. (2011). Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation andexperience of peak emotion to music. Nat Neurosci 14, 257–262
Physical Impairments
13 Queen Mary University London. (2015). New study confirms listening to music during surgery reduces pain and anxiety.
Available: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/2015/smd/new-study-confirms-listening-to-music-during-surgery-reducespain-and-anxiety.html
14 Anita Collins. (2014). How playing an instrument benefits your brain. Available: https://www.ted.com/talks/anita_collins_
how_playing_an_instrument_benefits_your_brain/transcript?language=en (video)
15 Alves-Pinto A, Turova V, Blumenstein T, et al. (2016). The case for musical instrument
training in cerebral palsy for neurorehabilitation. Neural Plast 2016;2016:1072301.

36

Physical Conditions
16 García-Casares, N., Martín-Colom, J. E., & García-Arnés, J. A. (2018). Music Therapy in
Parkinson's Disease. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 19(12), 1054–
1062.
17 Thoma, M. V., La Marca, R., Brönnimann, R., Finkel, L., Ehlert, U., & Nater, U. M. (2013). The
effect of music on the human stress response. PloS one, 8(8), e70156.
18 Raglio A. (2015). Music Therapy Interventions in Parkinson's Disease: The State-of-the-Art.
Frontiers in neurology, 6, 185.
19 World Health Organization. (2019). Health Evidence Network Synthesis Report 67. Whatis the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? Available:
https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/329834/9789289054553-eng.
pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

For further reading, we
recommend:
A Choir in Every Care Home
APPG on Creative Wellbeing Creative
Good for you, good for us, good foreverybody DHSC report
Health: The Arts for Health andWellbeing
ILC-UK – Commission on Music and
Dementia
National Academy Social Prescribing
National plan for Music Education

Survey Findings references

UK Music, This is Music 2021

20 ONS. (2021). Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain Available:
What is the evidence on the role of thehttps://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/arts in improving health and wellbeing? A scoping review
healthandwellbeing/bulletins/coronavirusandthesocialimpactsongreatbritain/22october2021
21 NHS Digital. (2021). Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2021 - wave 2
follow up to the 2017 survey. Available: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-healthof-children-and-young-people-in-england/2021-follow-up-to-the-2017-survey
22 McCrary JM, Altenmüller E, Kretschmer C, Scholz DS. Association of Music Interventions With Health-Related Quality of Life:
A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(3):e223236. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.3236
23 The Lancet. (2022). Clinical effectiveness of music interventions for dementia and depression in elderly care (MIDDEL):
Australian cohort of an international pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial. Available here: https://www.thelancet.
com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(22)00027-7/fulltext
24 World Health Organization. (2019). Health Evidence Network Synthesis Report 67. What is the evidence on the role of the arts
in improving health and well-being? Available: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/329834/9789289054553eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y25 UCL. (2021). Analysis: We asked 70,000 people how coronavirus affected them. Available: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/
feb/analysis-we-asked-70000-people-how-coronavirus-affected-them
26 Granot R et al. (2021). “Help! I Need Somebody”: Music as a Global Resource for Obtaining Wellbeing Goals in Times of Crisis.
27 Cabedo-Mas A, Arriaga-Sanz C and Moliner-Miravet L. (2021). Uses and Perceptions of Music in Times of COVID-19: A Spanish
Population Survey.

Recommendations references
28 Music for Dementia. (2020). Music in social care plans for people with dementia. Available: Social-Workers-Guide-A4.pdf(musicfordementia.org.uk)
29 Fancourt, D., Warran, K. and Aughterson, H. (2020). Evidence Summary for Policy The role of arts in improving health& wellbeing. London: UCL. Available: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/929773/DCMS_report_April_2020_finalx__1_.pdf

37

Acknowledgements
This project and report would not havebeen possible without the work of all thoseworking with music across health, social care,government, and the music and cultural
sectors.

This report was written and produced byGrace Meadows and Hannah McLennan.
With thanks to Tom Kiehl, Marc Jaffrey,
Sarah Metcalfe and Jamie Njoku-Goodwin
for their support throughout.

We are grateful to all those individuals andorganisations that have played a part in the
project, providing insights by responding
to the Power of Music consultation,
attending meetings and being part of vital
conversations. It is this collaboration andenthusiasm for a national collective andcoherent approach to music playing a much
more central role in our lives that we are able
to present these recommendations.

This report was designed by
Beatriz Ribeiro at UK Music.
All written material copyright © UK Music ©
Music for Dementia (© The Utley Foundation)
2022 except where otherwise indicated.
UK Music
Savoy Hill House
7-10 Savoy Hill
LondonWC2R 0BU
Twitter: @UK_Music
Email: info@ukmusic.org
www.ukmusic.org
Music for Dementia
The Utley Foundation
Larkins Farm
199 Nine Ashes Road
Ingatestone
Chelmsford
CM4 0JY
Twitter: @MusicforDemUKEmail: info@musicfordementia.org.uk
www.musicfordementia.org.uk

38

This report on music, health and wellbeing
has been created by UK Music and Music for
Dementia on behalf of their members andsupporters to demonstrate the value of music
to society across all aspects – social, health,care, commercial and economic.
UK Music is the collective voice of the UK’s
world-leading music industry. We represent
all sectors of our industry – bringing them
together to collaborate, campaign, andchampion music. The members of UK Music
are: AIM, BPI, FAC, The Ivors Academy, MMF,
MPA, MPG, MU, PPL, PRS for Music. UK Musicalso has an informal association with LIVE
(Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment).
Supported by The Utley Foundation, Musicfor Dementia is the cross-sector campaign tomake music an integral part of dementia care.
We already include more than 200
organisations from the NHS, care sector,
third sector and music sector plus thousandsof individual supporters, many with lived
experience.
The Utley Foundation is a private familycharitable trust, established in 2014. The
Foundation exists to advance social causes
close to the heart of the trustees, and to act
as a catalyst for greater funding and wider
action for the causes it supports.

39