Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take to
increase the use of art or music-based interventions in the care
of people living with dementia.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health
and Social Care () (Con)
Music can play an important part in supporting people who are
living with dementia. Last year, NHS England and NHS Improvement
facilitated three webinars resulting in the publication of
guidance for social prescribing link workers to expand music
prescriptions. We will be setting out a new dementia strategy in
2022. As part of that development, we are working in
collaboration with stakeholders, including people affected by
dementia, and will explore the role of arts and music-based
interventions.
(CB)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. What further steps
will the Government take to support brain health through social
prescribing? How will any measures taken be incorporated into the
Health and Care Bill currently being debated in the other
place?
(Con)
I pay tribute to the noble Baroness for all her work raising
awareness of dementia, in this House and outside of it. The
Government understand the importance of non-medical and lifestyle
factors in supporting people’s health and well-being, including
brain health. This is why we are continuing to roll out social
prescribing across the NHS, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan
commitment to have at least 900,000 people referred to social
prescribing by 2023-24. The Department of Health and Social Care
is working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to
incorporate social prescribing into the guidance to integrated
care systems. Some of this guidance has already been included in
the document implementation guidance on partnerships with the
voluntary, community and social enterprise sector that was
published in September 2021.
(Lab)
Around 25,000 people with dementia are from BAME communities and
this is expected to double by 2026. The Alzheimer’s Society
report, The Fog of Support, found that people from these
communities, and those with English as an additional language,
were more likely to use BAME-led groups. The report also found
that there is generally a need for interventions to be much more
culturally sensitive. What action are the Government taking to
ensure that people with dementia can access culturally
appropriate care, including art and music-based interventions,
which reflect a wide range of cultures and languages?
(Con)
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is looking at
areas where there are clear disparities. As part of developing
the dementia strategy, the Government are consulting with a wide
range of stakeholders and ensuring that a diverse range of views
from different communities is heard and that it is not targeted
just at one particularly community.
(CB)
My Lords, social prescribing is a key aspect of the NHS Long Term
Plan. It has been described by the president of the Royal College
of General Practitioners as an essential part of the toolkit for
tomorrow’s doctors. Therefore, why is social prescribing absent
from the core undergraduate curriculum in UK medical schools?
Some schools offer optional modules, but there is no national
consensus on what teaching should cover or how it is best
delivered. Does the Minister agree that, unless social
prescribing is integrated into the education of the future
healthcare workforce, its benefits for patients and the NHS will
never be realised?
(Con)
The NICE quality standard on dementia, published in June 2019,
includes guidelines for offering activities and social
prescribing. They are also included in the NHS long-term plan.
Obviously, different components are modelled that are social
prescribe-enabled—not only music but other art-based activities.
The education question will be for my noble friend in the
Department for Education, but if the noble Baroness can write to
me, I am sure that we can get the answer.
(Con)
My Lords, music therapy is also increasingly helping Covid
patients hit by inflammation and fibrosis that causes shortness
of breath—a horrible condition. The Breathe programme from the
ENO and Imperial College has classical-singing coaches providing
psychological and physiological therapy to great effect. Can the
Minister endorse this kind of social prescribing, and can he
commit to meeting Dr Harry Brünjes and the Breathe team, which is
seeking to take this programme nationally?
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for that question. As an amateur
musician—I stress “amateur”—I know that there is no better
feeling than when you connect with your audience as a live
musician. Music tugs at your heartstrings. Music touches your
soul. But it can also unlock the mind. This shows the importance
of music in social prescribing.
(Lab)
My Lords, I hope that patients get the benefit of what I am sure
is the Minister’s excellent playing. He has been very positive in
his responses, but he will know that the arts sector has been
very stretched financially during the Covid years in particular.
Will he open discussions with organisations such as the
Alzheimer’s Society, with an offer of some funding to develop
some of the schemes that we have heard about today?
(Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his invitation to perform live—I am
not sure that he will feel the same way after hearing my blues
band. Last year, NHS England and NHS Improvement, in
collaboration with the National Academy for Social Prescribing,
the Alzheimer’s Society and Music for Dementia, facilitated a
series of webinars. We are working in consultation with them. In
February 2021, Music for Dementia also published social
prescribing guides for link workers to help expand music
prescriptions. The important thing here is that we are consulting
with stakeholders.
(LD)
My Lords, for more dementia patients to gain access to music
therapy through social prescribing, there must be more training
on the value of music for carers and healthcare practitioners and
greater support for musicians to train as
music therapists, and music education must be a much more
mainstream part of primary and secondary school education. What
assurance can the Minister give that the necessary government
cross-departmental action is being taken to deliver on this?
(Con)
The department itself is working closely with Music for Dementia
and other organisations. Across government, we are looking at
music, beyond just performance, to see how it can impact our
lives and the role that it can have in levelling up and community
cohesion, for example. Across government, I am sure that a number
of departments are looking at this.
(Con)
My Lords, the former Secretary of State, , deserves an enormous amount
of credit for setting up the National Academy for Social
Prescribing. Before he came into the department, the Department
of Health could not have been less interested in the power of the
arts and music to have an impact on people’s health. The second
anniversary of the academy has just passed. Can the Minister
commit to issuing a report on its third anniversary—since I know
that he will still be in the post—to suggest how to take it
forward? Also, we still do not know what instrument he plays, but
perhaps he could take it with him on his first visit to the
academy, as soon as possible.
(Con)
I am not sure which question to answer first. If noble Lords will
excuse a second of self-promotion, I am an electric bass player
and sing the blues as well.
Noble Lords
Oh!
(Con)
I thank noble Lords. Can I stop there? I also am aware that my
noble friend is himself a music fan. I remember once bumping into
him on the Jubilee line on his way to the O2 arena to see Led
Zeppelin. Noble Lords across the House recognise the power of
music and how it affects our lives.
of Cheltenham (LD) [V]
My Lords, someone very close to me has Alzheimer’s disease.
Music-based interventions such as the Alzheimer’s Society’s
“Singing for the Brain” groups have been proven to have multiple
health and well-being benefits. What support are the Government
offering to charities such as the Alzheimer’s Society to ensure
that they can keep delivering this kind of intervention? Will the
Minister, with his musical ability, commit to attending a
“Singing for the Brain” session?
(Con)
I should warn all noble Lords that they have not heard me
yet—their requests may be quite different after hearing my band
play. In terms of the ability of music and, if you like, the
instructions, we are working with a number of stakeholders as
well as ensuring that, when it comes to training social workers
and others, they understand the ability of music to make a
difference to people’s lives.
(PC)
My Lords, I declare an interest: my wife is a music teacher and
my son runs a recording studio, at which I am sure the Minister
would be very welcome. Does the Minister agree that one
initiative which could help both dementia sufferers and
young musicians and artists
would be to sponsor of an internship scheme whereby such students
could be working part-time in the care sector, thereby benefiting
themselves and those in care?
(Con)
I thank the noble Lord for that suggestion. We are looking,
across the health sector, at how we can think outside the box and
train students in other disciplines to help in healthcare.
Clearly, music can potentially play a role. In terms of the music
studio offer, can I just say “Wait until you’ve heard me”?
