Culture pour tous

Soothed by Music

The Société pour les arts en milieux de santé (SAMS) is a charity organization founded in March 2009 that offers concerts by professional musicians in view of improving the quality of life of care centre residents.

Despite its young age, the organization started out on a major note as of October 2009 with a program of 555 concerts scheduled for 46 Montreal residential and long-term care centres (CHSLD - centres d’hébergement et de soins de longue durée), giving about one concert a month per centre until September 2010; an impressive goal, indeed.

The organization is inspired by the Health Arts Society (HAS) set up in 2006 by David Lemon, in British Columbia. During the 2009-2010 season, the HAS will offer over 1,000 artistic events throughout the province. Sylvia L'Écuyer, a host and producer at Radio-Canada (Espace Musique) and Vancouver resident, took the initiative to implement a similar organization in Québec with the support of the music enthusiast and former MP Daniel Turp, and Pierre Vachon, Communications-marketing director at the Opéra de Montréal.

In order to provide a variety of musical performances, the SAMS has established artistic partnerships with organizations such as the Opéra de Montréal, the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada, etc. This year’s program includes more than forty artists, soloists and duettists, who offer classical music, jazz or opera tunes and world music.

For the joy of music

In offering quality concerts by professional artists, the SAMS seeks to awaken a joy for music. Though it is above all an artistic undertaking, it is also a markedly social one in that it addresses a clientele who is usually given little to cheer about.

“Music is a universal language. It brings back memories, it soothes, it makes you happy,” states Annie Saumier, the general and artistic director of the SAMS. The opinions gathered in the centres are unanimous: music brings things to mind, and allows even the most affected among the residents to recall memories.

The concerts last around 45 minutes and also include a period during which the musicians can comment on the repertory or present their instruments. This close proximity between the audience and the musicians promotes interaction. An atmosphere in which one can ask questions, or touch the instruments, and which contributes to enriching this dialogue with senior citizens. Listening to a concert thus becomes an intimate and pleasant occasion to share time with loved ones.

Whether public or semi-private, residential and long-term care centres can house around 150 to 500 residents, the majority of them are seniors at various degrees of having lost autonomy, due to aging, and physical or cognitive impairments. This medical inevitability transcends social classes and affects residents regardless of their sociocultural status; the only constant factor among them is that each requires a minimum of 3.5 hours of daily care.

In each institution the SAMS concerts are a welcomed breath of fresh air, and the staff gladly contributes to making them a success. First of all, they know the residents and help to find the most fitting artistic proposals. Afterwards, they promote participation by publicizing the activity, planning for the transportation and accompaniment of residents from one floor to another. On average, around 40 residents attend the concerts that are given in the recreation room, chapel or dining room. The musicians know the particular context in which they are to perform. Its also matters that they be good communicators who have an awareness of this clientele’s reality.

A model for the future, a growing organization

Based on the CHLDS’ enthusiastic response, the SAMS has a bright future ahead of it. Annie Saumier says that she receives a lot of requests from centres in suburban Montreal to expand the activity to a broader territory. For this expansion initiative to succeed, the financing, which is set on a regional basis, will have to follow in step. The SAMS model can easily be exported and be made up of chapters in the Eastern Townships, Saguenay, Abitibi and Québec City, etc., where one can invite local professional musicians. The SAMS could also provide its services to other types of institutions such as youth centres, birthing centres, rehabilitation centres, palliative care centres and psychiatric institutions.

The global budget for the current program year amounts to $250,000. A good portion of these funds goes directly to pay the artists’ fees because the production costs are low. For the most part the concerts are acoustic and don’t require a costly technical infrastructure. The SAMS Internet site—modeled on its Vancouver sister organization’s site—greatly facilitates the coordination of the performances by providing online access to all logistical information. The rooms are made available free of cost and promotion is taken care of in house by word of mouth. The access to the concerts is actually restricted solely to the centre residents, their family members and friends.

For its first season the SAMS estimates that it can gather around 50% of its budget from the private sector through business donations. Another 25% is to come from the Québec Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux. For their part, the visited institutions will contribute directly through the budget allocated to their region through the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal. David Levine, the Agence’s director, immediately showed his enthusiasm when the project was presented to him in the early stages of this adventure. Besides the Agence’s support, the SAMS can also thank Mr. Levine for having facilitated the partnership with an important private company, TELUS health solutions.

Emboldened by the success of this first year of programming, the organization is searching for new sources of financing, notably from the Québec Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, which offers a long-term senior support program called Soutien aux initiatives visant le respect des aînés.

The SAMS spreads joy and there is a lot value in that. It touches the right chord and audiences cheer for an encore.

Call for applications
Musicians can submit their application to the SAMS direction who will evaluate it
for the next season.