“Songwriting in the nursing home is not a mere activity. Songwriting is an opportunity for intellectual, artistic and spiritual growth. As such, it fosters a real sense of neighborhood and transcends the artificiality of the institutional life.”

--Theresa Allison, M.D., M.A. reporting on her study of Songwriting Works in the chapter «Songwriting in the Nursing Home: Transcending the Boundaries of Institutionalization
Through Music» in the Oxford Handbook of Medical Ethnomusicology (Oxford University Press, 2008)

 

TRAINING & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

As research shows, music-making is mutually beneficial for participants and providers/facilitators. Judith-Kate Friedman and associates offer trainings for healthcare, education and music/arts professionals throughout North America.

 

Training topics include:

• Music: Keys to Wellness, Vital Aging,
  Brain Fitness and Mental Health
• "Better Living Through Songwriting"
  A hands-on demonstration of the Songwriting Works™ method
• Applied research in Creativity and Aging
  
• Nuts & bolts replication of 'best practice' arts programs in residential care settings
• Maps for building successful artist/provider partnerships
• Tools for enhancing one’s own creativity to mutually benefit both self and clients
• Bringing It On Home: Musical Tools for Family Caregivers

In 2008 Songwriting Works received the Blair L. Sadler/

Society for the Arts in Healthcare International Healing Arts Award for its programs and research at the Jewish Home San Francisco; and in 2007, the MetLife Foundation-American Society on Aging MindAlert award for innovative programs enhancing mental fitness for older adults with cognitive impairments.
Ms. Friedman offers trainings throughout the U.S. through both the Met Life/ASA MindAlert Speaker's Bureau and as a master trainer with the National Center for Creative Aging. To learn more about funding opportunities for agencies interested in hosting a training, click here.

 

In 2009 Songwriting Works began training professional songwriters to become certified SW

facilitators. The two-year training, initially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts in conjunction with Arts Northwest, is being held on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. SW hopes to begin offering web-based distance learning programs in the near future. For more information, contact info@songwritingworks.org
or phone: 360/385-1160.