East Surrey Hospital’s Butterfly Café will celebrate its first anniversary by holding a musical tea for patients living with dementia, during a week full of musical themed activities which will take place on the hospital wards, all part of BBC Music Day*.
A whole host of music events and workshops will run from Monday 23 – Friday 27 September 2019, coinciding with World Alzheimer’s Month.
Demonstrating their commitment to improving care of people living with dementia, the Butterfly Café started as an opportunity for patients living with dementia to meet away from the hospital environment and gain access to support and information available. Meeting on the last Wednesday of each month, the café is open to inpatients and their families and carers. It is supported by the dementia care team at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Butterfly volunteers and Sussex and Surrey Carers.
As the team mark this special anniversary with a musical theme, visitors to the café can make personal musical requests. The café will also become a monthly Playlist for Life help point, a new and unique initiative to help people living with dementia to create musical playlists that evoke memories.
As well as the café anniversary, the week will include a sing-a-long session in the hospital’s dementia friendly garden, Camomile Courtyard, vintage songs performed in the wards by the local singing group Angel Delights and a music workshop run by Wishing Well.
Hospital Radio Redhill’s request show and All Gold show will also be collecting and playing requests for patients to hear songs from the 60s and 70s. To close the week the chaplaincy services team will hold a dementia friendly ecumenical service open to all, complete with familiar traditional hymns and prayers.
Chris O’Connor, SASH dementia clinical lead and consultant Admiral nurse, who specialises in offering emotional support, clinical expertise and practical advice said: “In the UK it is estimated that 850,000 people are living with dementia. In reality, far more people are affected by dementia because of the impact it also has on families and friends. As a dementia friendly organisation our action is to continue to support families of people living with dementia while they are patients at East Surrey Hospital.”
“We are pleased to be taking part in BBC Music Day. Research shows that music provides stimulation and reminiscence in an upbeat and meaningful way to patients living with dementia. This is a fantastic way to combine celebrating the café’s birthday and supporting our patients through music therapy.”
Michael Wilson CBE, chief executive of SASH said: “We are extremely proud of the work our dementia care nursing team are doing at SASH and congratulate them on this milestone. This is a great opportunity to raise awareness about the ways we can continue to support patients and their families living with dementia in the local area.”
If anyone is interested in playing an instrument at the hospital on a voluntary basis. Please visit https://surreyandsussex.nhs.uk/working-for-us/volunteering/
