Music in Hospitals & Care is excited to be working with the Edinburgh Centre for Research on the Lived Experience of Dementia (ECRED), which is based at the University of Edinburgh.
About the project
The project is titled IMAGINED: Investigating Meaning-making and the cocreation of Guidelines for Evaluation IN Arts for Dementia. It will aim to look at how people living with dementia engage with arts projects, including music and dance, and whether these activities are meaningful to those who participate. Building on this, the project will explore how to evaluate these activities in view of experiences of health and wellbeing.
This will be a two year project running from November 2023 to November 2025, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
How Music in Hospitals & Care fits in
Music in Hospitals & Care has worked with a range of partners around music and dementia, such as:
- Rights Made Real in Care Homes delivered in partnership with Scottish Care and the University of the West of Scotland, bringing live music to those with dementia within a rights-based approach
- Alzheimer’s Society, bringing Singing for the Brain singing sessions to those with dementia.
Research carried out as part of our dementia work has shown that live music concerts in care settings have decreased levels of agitation and anti-social behaviour, and increased wellbeing for families (Shibazaki & Marshall, 2015) and those living with dementia (Shibazaki & Marshall, 2016).
Over the next six months, Music in Hospitals & Care will deliver 36 live music sessions during the project at care homes in Edinburgh and Glasgow who are participating in Rights Made Real, and in Newcastle at an Age UK Day Centre.
ECRED will also work with Scottish Ballet around dance and meaning-making for health and wellbeing.
The project is led by Dr Katey Warran, Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and Deputy Director of ECRED. Other partners organisations are Scottish Ballet, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh and the University of Florida.
A coproduction group has been invited to follow the project closely and will meet for the first time on 9 May. This consists of eight members including people with lived experience of dementia, informal carers and arts practitioners will follow the project closely.
We look forward to sharing more on the project as it happens.
Arts in Care Homes Day: Thanking Bert Smith
This Arts in Care Homes Day, we’re taking the time to thank Moyness Care Home’s Activities Coordinator Bert Smith, who has championed live music for care homes in Dundee for over 30 years. As Bert approaches retirement, he is looking back on his career and years of work with Music in Hospitals & Care.
World Alzheimer’s Month: Lifting spirits in Cumbria
Our musician Andy McKay has been visiting wards and care homes across Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, where we have been able to share 29 hours of live music between September 2025 and May 2026. One of the spaces Andy visited is the Ramsey Unit at Furness General Hospital, an assessment unit for patients with organic illnesses such as dementia.
Read our latest annual report
In 2025/26 we focused on setting the right note for the future. Despite a challenging landscape, we are proud of what we have been able to achieve with your support.