Introducing the 2018-19 Musicians in Healthcare Mentorship Essays
In September 2018, in collaboration with Sound Connections, we recruited Aidan Maier (guitar/vocals), Lila Bhattacherjee (flute), Nicola Tagoe (flute/vocals), Sara Fawcett (piano/ukulele/vocals), and Sasha Mattock (percussion) to take part in our Musician Mentorship Programme. The group spent 6 months shadowing our core music programmes, each receiving three hours of 1-2-1 mentoring time with an rb&hArts resident musician of their choice. This is all part of our commitment to our funder Youth Music to develop music in healthcare practice, building capacity in the sector’s workforce.
This fantastic group brought unique perspective, experience and skill, positively impacting rb&hArts’ work through their own learning. Our resident musicians reported feeling an increase in confidence after acting as mentors as it helped them consolidate and communicate their own knowledge and professional practice. As we begin the process of finding five new music mentees for our Musician Mentorship Programme I am delighted to present five reflective essays from our previous cohort now available online.
These essays bring together reflections from the mentees about their time on the wards, based on ‘in the moment’ reflections they recorded along the way. Nicola’s piece movingly reflects on her own experiences of music in hospital as a patient, using her observations as a musician in these settings to eloquently make the case for music in healthcare’s importance and effectiveness.
Nearly all mentees touched upon the subject of resilience in this line of work; sharing music-making with families often undergoing hospital care can naturally take its toll emotionally. This is a widely discussed issue across the arts and health sector with a critical focus on preventing burnout for artists working in challenging settings. Sasha used her essay to note down some tips for setting the pace when on the ward to protect one’s own wellbeing.
Lila’s essay explores the social community aspect of the work, thinking over some of the rewarding moments facilitated by music she observed, and learning how to be in that space; “I’ve had to let go of feeling self-conscious and worrying about it being perfect, and instead focus on the joy of being able to communicate musically in such a direct way”.
Sara also touched upon this, discussing how the programme has influenced her as a classically trained musician, pushing her to think outside the usual parameters of professional music-making becoming more confident and versatile. Likewise, the programme prompted new ideas in engagement for Aiden, whose observations of patient interactions gave him food for thought about how he would run his own sessions.
The group have gone on to expand on their time at rb&hArts through further music-facilitation work; some are working with musical groups and choirs in the community whilst others are pursuing further education in their musical skill. Members of the group have been offered cover work with rb&hArts so they can continue to build on their knowledge. We are so grateful to our mentees for their creativity and commitment, and look forward to seeing what 2019-20 brings.
rb&hArts and Sound Connections are currently recruiting for the next cohort of music mentees with five spaces available.
Learn more and find out how to apply here.
DEADLINE EXTENDED to 23rd October 2019.