At-Risk Populations

How do we design and modify our sessions with a fitness leader for different populations? For comparison, we describe three events: one for special needs students, one for a senior residence, and one for a dementia unit, where in each case two musicians play and a fitness instructor leads exercises. Note the difference in goals and what the musicians do differently. In each case the music and activities we choose need to coordinate with what the fitness leader’s goals are for the …

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The presenters were one staff member and one musician. Before we identified what we would do for this group, we asked the organizers for information about the participants. So this is what we knew: They hadn’t done movement to music. They really respond to rounds, becoming more aware of the group and interacting more, which makes them feel more connected and less isolated. They like recognizing songs. They have trouble putting responses into words, similar to those with dementia. They respond well …

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  Note: This article was first published in Arts Journal as a guest blog for Doug Borwick August 8 and August 15, 2018 Over the past twenty years I have played for children and adults with special needs, dementia patients, hospitalized children, grieving parents, and veterans in rehab and hospice. The number of musicians ranged from one to a hundred players. Audiences varied from ten people to thirty-five thousand. Some events were onetime only. Some were a series of interactions over a …

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