For Vince, resident at Kensington Gardens, music has the ability to lift him out of the doldrums and bring him back to a time of fond memories.
“When Taylor and I get together, it brings me up,” says Vince. “It helps me to keep going, and I get the right kind of attitude from it.” Vince works with Taylor Kurta, Music Therapist at Kensington Gardens, and together they sing, write songs, and talk about powerful memories from Vince’s past.
At Kensington Health we offer a robust music therapy program to our residents living in long-term care, the hospice, and their families. Soon a dedicated music therapy room will open up in our long-term care home for residents to enjoy on their own, with a group, or with their family.
“I’m working with Vince to help him express himself creatively through music,” says Taylor. “We do a lot of song writing, a lot of lyric analysis, and he is able to relate it to different parts of his life.”
“Because Vince is younger and living in long-term care, there are a lot of feelings associated with that, and we are trying to work through those feelings using music therapy.”
As part of multiple music therapy sessions, Vince wrote a song with Taylor’s help for his soon-to-be-born grandson. The deep and meaningful lyrics and beautiful melody are a testament to how hard Vince worked on this piece.
In his lyrics, Vince was able to express his love, as well as pass along his wisdom to family:
“Grandson, welcome to the family,
You are loved by all of us.
If I could teach you just one simple thing,
It would be to live your life with love.”
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