Transcending the limitations of institutionalization through music: ethnomusicology in a nursing home

This is an ethnographic study of the music life of the English speakers in a 430-bed not-for-profit nursing home. Research took place between August 2006 and June 2008, and included participation in both musical and non-musical activities at the home, formal and informal interviews, volunteering with the activities staff, and large-group observations. In this monograph, I treat the nursing home as an artificially constructed community in order to examine the role of music in daily life for the people to who live in, work at, and visit the Home. Particular attention is paid to the role of songwriting in an institution, the role of the sing-along for its participants, and the role of music and memory in the context of end-stage dementia. The study was designed to elucidate the following humanities research question: how do institutionalized elders use music to cope with increasing physical, cognitive and social limitations? What I learned was that they do no such thing. The elders at the Home use music to transcend the limitations of illness and the institution that cares for them.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Musicology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Allison, Theresa

Contributors dc:contributor

• Nettl, Bruno
• Cunningham, Clark E.
• Solis, Gabriel
• Turino, Thomas R.

• Ethnomusicology
• Nursing Home Ethnography
• Music and Aging
• Gerontology

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2010 Theresa Anne Allison

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18488

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/18488