About us
Music in Hospitals & Care is a charity that improves the health and wellbeing of children and adults through the healing power of live music.
Research shows that live music heals. It helps people feel relaxed and confident, and can relieve frustration, stress and isolation. Music can also reduce the perception of pain. It brings
back memories and helps create new ones. When you move your body to music – even just tapping a finger – it’s natural physiotherapy.
Live music can transform relationships between patients, families, healthcare professionals, residents and carers. When people enjoy music together, they feel more connected to each other, which leads to more personalised care.
Our vision
Everyone can access and experience the joy of live music.
Why do we share live music in hospitals and care?
Each year there are an estimated 600 million patient interactions with GP, community, hospital, mental health and ambulance services – that’s 1.7 million contacts every day.
In 2023/24, hospitals in England recorded 17.6 million completed patient stays. In 2022/23 there were 141 million patient interactions with hospitals.
1 in 2 of us will care for a loved one with dementia or develop it ourselves. 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 currently have dementia in the UK – an estimated 1 million people.
6.6% of people in England were in contact with mental health, learning disability and autism services in 2023/24. This is compared to 6.3% and 5.8% in the previous two years.
How we work
We take care to create connections and shared, meaningful live music experiences.
We are person-centered…
- We engage staff, health and care partners, people experiencing our live music and freelance musicians
We work together…
- We build and grow relationships with health and car e settings
- We raise money and awareness to engage people who love music
We understand and learn…
- We seek feedback and review our live music to show the difference it makes
- We continue to be inclusive and reflect the communities we work with
What we do
We share live music with people in hospitals, care homes and in the community to reach those living with dementia, mental health problems, or who are seriously ill. The impact we hope to make is for people in hospitals and care to enjoy a better quality of life and improved health outcomes.
Valley View Care Home, Glamorgan
“I had one gentleman say ‘I can’t believe how I feel, that was marvellous. I’m so glad I didn’t miss it.’ This gentleman has never expressed any emotion other than
frustration or calm before.”