AIBU to think care homes need more age-appropriate entertainment?

i bet they have some great stories to tell, they were young once and would have gone to gigs, gone out dancing and got up to all sorts. I look back on my youth and it was wild (wish it had been even wilder), I used to be out every Friday, Saturday and quite a few Sundays if I could afford it, I used to dance, drink, use drugs, go to gigs and concerts and in my hey day met quite a few bands. The thought of spending my final years shoved in a chair waving a plastic union flag and being expected to know the words to "we'll met again" fills me with despair. I'd like to reminisce about being serenaded by Errol from Hot Chocolate and being asked to "join the boys" by Roxy Music's manager . Then there was the tine I ended up backstage at a Bob Dylan gig... I am an old woman now but I am still a person as are those who are now live in care homes.

My Mum is 85. Her care home has all sorts as entertainers, ranging from Tina Turner tribute, Elvis, country etc. The background music is stuff like Coldplay, Queen etc.

The research about stimulation for people who are aging and may be in cognitive decline shows that if you have an environment/sounds/fashions/decor/hobbies that you had when you were at your prime it promotes cognitive stimulation and prevents further decline

Thats hard if you have a mix age of residents and also someones prime might have been in their 20s and someone elses might have been in their 40s but generally this is why care homes try to reignite those memories.

A one size doesnt fit all of course but this is why a good care home will be aware of this.

In my mum’s car home, they had songs sung throughout the war, elvis , rock and roll, swing , 60’s songs from the musicals and crooners like Sinatra. My mum was a huge Sinatra fan but she enjoyed the other entertainment too. So as long as there is a variety of entertainment available, I think it’s fine.

The management are often patronising, condescending and ignorant to the individual needs of the clients. Not saying all, but all I have ever stepped foot in. They're businesses, run like businesses. Not much thought or real care for residents. Again, just my personal experience.

How did I miss Bowie off my list? he was a constant in my life from my teenage year through to the day he died. Reminds me of an Instagram post I saw where a woman goes to see her mum in a home and they dance to Paint it Black by the Stones and you can see the mum's face transformed by joy as she begins to move.

I used to say when I was young that if i ever ended up in a home I wanted to be thwacking my zimmer frame on the floor to Midnight Rambler by the Stones. I have expanded my repitore to include the Prodigy, a bit of Madonna, some Blur and Lana Del Ray to mention just a few from my play lists. Oh and don't forget Hendrix, Pulp, Groove Armada, loads of reggae and dancehall tunes . It is ridiculous that they are not offering culturally relevant stuff to people.

I would definitely speak to the home but, before you do, do your homework on it.

I can't provide links but work/research has certainly been done on this. There was a TV programme a few years back with a group of once-well known elderly people (actors, a newsreader etc) who entered a home and we saw how their social treatment, if I can put it that way, affected their behaviour. So playing music of their parents' or even grandparents' era effectively aged them.

A friend once told me her aged aunt's home tried to get them singing 'Daisy, Daisy' (give me your answer, do) which was popular maybe at the end of the 1880s and onwards. Before Auntie's time.

So this is lazy, thoughtless & counterproductive. The home, all homes, need to take steps to rectify this.

Yes, watch the film “Cocoon”! Beam me up!

I want AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Sisters of Mercy, Siouxie and The Banshees, The Charlatans, and Duran Duran.

For the most part, you’re right and it’s so depressing, it’s like ‘old people’ just turn into a blob, no individuality or personality, just ‘old’ = wartime. It’s very dehumanising in a way really.
There is one care home near us who seem to get it right. They take suggestions and they vote on said suggestions. They’ve had all sorts of music theme ‘parties’, they have had visits from donkeys and ponies, they have a local toddler music and dance class do special sessions there where the residents are encouraged to join in as much as possible (these are so popular and child spaces always sell out almost immediately, which is lovely, I think!), they’ve even done karaoke before (again, huge range of musical selections!) just fun things like that, it’s really nice and the residents always seem quite happy, I think!

That might be for patients with dementis who are not very mobile , some will hsve lost the capacity to engage in meaning ful discusion but can concentrate on repetative tasks.

I was born in 1951, six years after the war ended. I wouldn't want wartime music. Late 60s and 70s would be my choice. Luckily I'm fairly fit so hopefully no likelihood of going into a care home, but surely the residents can request certain songs?.I suppose the problem is they're all different ages and different tastes in music.

Oh, of course! If all they ever do is childlike things then that's wrong. I was just giving some examples when rushing a reply!

Interesting. I agree about childish vs childlike but, either way, it's rather an odd ambition for elderly entertainment. We all love a bit of childlike enjoyment now and again, it's not the only worthwhile enjoyment though.

At my mum's nursing home, they were always playing pass-the-balloon games or making pointless things out of paper strips. Always the same group of six or seven residents, while the others rolled their eyes and tried to talk about whatever they were reading or watching. Or the food.

I'm old and I listen to 6 Music. Other retro radio stations are available. They could just play those, or (better) download some playlists from an assortment?

Oh - I just read a few replies about "infantalising" residents. I spoke about my previous career with young children, but want to make clear that it's a fine line between child-like, and childish. A line I think I have only crossed once (🤞🏼), but it's not easy! What I meant is that people love having fun in very similar ways whether they're 5, 55 or 95! The content just needs to be adapted so it's age appropriate. :)

When i first qualified as a mental health nurse i worked in a long stay dementia ward and they had room set out as a bar with proper pumps etc i thought it was a great idea and and as a newly qualified enthusiastic nurse , thought we could have pub quizzes , entertainment nights with patients and their relatives unfortunaley most of the staff werent intersted .

Completely agree. My mother was born the same year as yours and barely remembered the war.

Agree
There are people in care homes born in the 1950s
Which is the ab fab generation
This obsession with the war annoys me

You could possibly ask the care home manager to contact the local branch of a modern popular music choir (such as Rock Choir). Their members enjoy doing 'gigs' and the music tends to be from the 80s to the current day, with the very occasional nod to the 60s/70s. Make it clear that you want to avoid stuff which is earlier than that.

I'm an activity coordinator in a residential home. This drove me mad when I first started , too! I haven't read the full thread, but have a chat with your home's activity coordinator - most are always happy to hear feedback and new ideas. There's an online radio station called Music 4 Dementia (it's not just for people with dementia). You click on the decade someone was born and it plays the appropriate music - usually from when that person was late teens/early 20s, as iirc that's the age most people remember.
I hope this helps! Keeping every resident happy and entertained is a bloody hard job, and most of us just get minimum wage and not a scrap of training. I was a primary school teacher for 15 years so am able to adapt lots of what I previously did, which helps me massively.

As I said above - most coordinators will be happy for feedback, advice and support! We have lots of talented family members come in to run classes with me. Soap felting, flower arranging, art classes, book clubs, sessions with local schools, trips to cafés and local performers, etc. So if you can offer any help at all, please do! It's the residents that most benefit, and you get to make new friendships with people who have lived incredibly full, interesting, wonderful lives. It's just great all around. :)

Been happening for years and there's no excuse for it - makes me so cross.

Used to work in a day care for the eldery centre and they would start with the 'it's a long way to Tippary' which i think was published in 1905!

Many of the people would have been in their teens and 20s in the 50s. I really tried hard to get the staff to understand their clients would prefer Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, Beatles, The Rolling Stonesetc etc. It was like talking to a brick wall.

I love the idea of a bar in a care home!

One near me, the catering staff are dressed as waiters, to make the dining room feel like a restaurant They have table cloths and a wine list

Is it possible for any of the residents to get an entertainment committee together with some of the staff, or have a suggestions box?

Is there a local community transport that run trips?