young@heart the New Zealand Story

I am probably using this title a bit out of time now, as it is a quite some time since the movie came out. However the Glee Club's journey has not be unlike that choir. I am collecting data all the time on them, having now obtained two video interviews, and planning to video interview all of the participants. I presented this project to colleagues last Friday here, at the University of Waikato, and my presentation engendered a good discussion about the sociological aspects of the research.

A strong message that came through the discussion was that I should be looking at presenting via an ethnological model, rather than a statistical model. I was asked what the prime aim of my research is, and the answer to that question is that I want to see valid, interactive, mutually respectful singing, that has an anticipation that the singing will improve, in as many settings as possible, given the growing evidence that it has such multiple effects for the people involved.

When the Glee Club were recently asked how being involved Glee Club influences their health, they replied:

77F Improved memory, breathing, clarity of diction
82M Improving it with breath control and lung ventilation
84F Helps me get out of the house, talk to other people and not think about myself. It has been a lifesaver for me.
78M An active mind and body does have health benefits
76F Good – helps with breathing, come away feeling great
75F Gives me a new lease of life
87F Its good for me; confidence is returning albeit slowly
69F It has certainly helped my asthma
85F To me it is as good as a tonic
77F The singing helps and improves my speech and my voice
69F Very beneficial – my breathing has improved and deepened since starting singing. I never imagined singing in a choir because of a chronic cough caused by Bronchiestasis which I have suffered from for 64 years.
78F Mentally and good for lungs for breathing
90M Very good.

that is just the tip of the iceberg. This gets more and more exiting the further I go!!!

Agewise Seminar: Social Connectedness for Older People

Yesterday I attended and spoke at the above conference. I was accompanied by Val and Val. There are three 'Val's in the Hilda Ross complex and they all now sing in Glee Club, which is great. I had a class to teach first thing and left half way through the class time to get to the conference. I left them to their own devices, preparing group performance for next Thursday for assessment so they had plenty to do. I collected the Vals from Hilda Ross, and got to the conference in time for the end of morning tea, and we were able to listen to two other presentations before it was my turn. I am pleased that I am technologically adept, and was able to link my own computer into the data display, and play the two video interviews that I could not play at the Bay of Plenty presentation. In addition I was able to include some of the data from my latest survey with the Glee Club; material to do with the effect of participation in Glee Club on health, feeling of wellbeing, and quality of life.

I have got more canny at getting them to fill the surveys out for me, I invited them to my home for lunch and all they had to bring was themselves and their survey completed. This was a delightful event, that happened March 27th and will be repeated. Next time the suggestion was that it would be pot luck and that suits me down to the ground :-)

The responses were once again very positive to my presentation, and each time I present I have added to the research that supports what I am finding. I am still amazed at the strength of the comments of the respondents to the simple act of singing. In discussion with Val and Val as we travelled, and in line with the responses to multiple surveys, I have come to the conclusion as to what a successful tutor in this setting needs to be:

1. musically able, to play piano, or to have someone to play piano,
   
2. to know about singing and how to get people to sing using their voices more effectively, i.e. improving,
3. to be able to build mutually respectful relationships with the participants
4. to have high expectations of the participants' capabilities
5. to know how to have fun, to laugh and be free to laugh often

Ageing and Society HDCO501-09A(HAM)

This is the masters paper that I am now enrolled in, with four other classmates. We have had two 3-hr classes so far and handed in one assignment. I don't think my mark will be very good, as I was completely partisan about singing, but I will be very interested in the feedback that I get from the lecturer; Professor Bevan Grant who has been working in the area of Gerontology and physical activity for many years, with much involvement in the masters games. My fellow students are delightfully contrasting, with 25-yr-old Steffi from Taiwan, Doreen who has a lot of knowledge about policy and is around my own age, and Leslie who is a little younger, and is doing a counselling degree. Having typed those ageist comments, I will have to add this post to my third assignment which is about 'Images of Ageing'. I know Steffi is 25 because she told us, I have guestimated the other two women's ages by their appearance. It is amazing how much our personal stories inform our classes, and I see that continuing in such a way that we will be very familiar with each other, and already the friendship between us is growing. We have since been joined by Gabby also around age 25, who works for Sport Waikato, and runs fitness, and wellness sessions for goups and inviduals who are aged. She made a delightfully ageist remark in our last class, when she noted that the Anlene milk advert on tv had used an old woman, which she justified because she had wrinkles. The woman in Question was Alison Roe, marathon runner who is 50 yrs of age, but looks a lot younger, as you may be able to see yourself at this link. Allison Roe

Retirement VIllages Association Waikato/Bay of Plenty Managers Forum

Harry, his wife Kerry and Elizabeth and I set out for Bayswater Metlifecare last Thursday morning leading to a most interesting and enjoyable day. Because I currently spend little social time with the Glee Club, I know "scraps" about them. This trip with around 1 1/2 hrs driving each way was so informative and so enjoyable. Hearing about Harry's driving escapades, and how he had to get in good with Kerry's Mum so they could get married, such that towards the end of her life, Harry was the one she always remembered, not her own children. Harry and Kerry have their 55th wedding anniversary this week.

There were approximately 30 managers at the meeting, and I presented my findings to them, including many quotes from participants. Technology difficulties meant that I could not play two interviews that I had videoed with two other participants, but the conversation with Harry, Kerry and Elizabeth more than made up for that. I was fascinated to hear their responses to questions. The depth of their enjoyment of the singing programme in some ways surprised me. These are busy people, with many activities in their days, Harry has recently self-published a book about his experiences as a child prisoner of war in Indonesia. Yet both of them and Kerry as a non-participant all said that they start looking forward to the next rehearsal as soon as it is finished. Harry said that if he has to miss rehearsal, something is missing from his week. I is time for me to put together a new survey for the Glee Club and ask some of these questions in a setting where I get full responses. This work gets more and more exciting from every event!

Even more publicity!!

In looking on the Ryman Healthcare site I found the article linked below, which is gleaned from the newspaper article, and now appears on their website.

Ryman Healthcare article

The beginning of 2009

After teaching a summer school course in applied music, and going to catch up with my youngest grandson in Australia, I met up with the Glee Club for the first time last week, with three new members, including another man! On my Australian trip I picked on a digital video camera, with an in-built 30GB hard drive, which I will be able to use to collect more video data to include in this year's presentations.

My first presentation is on March 5th in Tauranga to the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Retirement Villages Assn Manager's forum. This was set up by John Collyns who is the Director of Retirment Villages Association. He contacted me soon after the article appeared in INsite, and with his own long background in choral singing, asked me to present to this meeting. I will be taking two of the Glee Club members with me, along with video material of the group in rehearsal, and perhaps some comments from those who do not go this time. I am interviewing the manager of the Ryman Healthcare Hilda Ross complex next week (Feb 25th) and her responses will be part of my March presentation.

My next presentation is on April 30th here in Hamilton, to the local Gerontology group. In July I present to the National Music Educators' Conference in Christchurch. I have also been invited to write an article about the Glee Club, their growing reputation, and the recently released c.d. for New Zealand Association of Gerontology national newsletter.

The Glee Club has been invited to perform at another retirement complex in Hamilton, Allandale. We are invited to take our c.d. to sell to the audience. The year is getting more and more involved for the Glee Club. It is both exciting and challenging.