Community Programs & Events

One-on-One Live Music Program for Comfort Care

The Start of East End Arts Music by the Bedside Program in 2015

East End Arts and Peconic Landing are pleased to announce the start of the East End Arts Music by the Bedside program. Hosted at Peconic Landing, the award-winning LifeCare retirement community in Greenport, this experiential music program brings one-on-one live music performances to the bedside of seniors receiving comfort care (palliative care). These special one-on-one sessions are be provided by local volunteer musicians including East End Arts music students and faculty, as well as musicians interested in participating in the program.

Video: Honoring East End Arts Music By The Bedside Volunteers at Peconic Landing

By Waldo Cabrera at MyLITV
Published on Nov 30, 2017

The East End Arts Music by the Bedside program is a collaboration between East End Arts musicians and The Shores at Peconic Landing, a skilled nursing center. Comfort care has many facets, and these musicians help to foster feelings of peace and ease through the enjoyment of music. Whether a peaceful song, a quiet flute solo, or the sound of a violin – it can help seniors to connect with the soul, awaken memories, and enhance their quality of life.

While not medical caregivers, these East End Arts volunteers provide supportive end of life comfort treatment. When Peconic Landing’s caregivers deem it beneficial, the visiting musician meet seniors by the bedside and offer a song, a musical piece from their own repertoire, or even take a special request. These musicians help provide seniors with comfort, emotional support, presence, and a connection that only music can provide.

Volunteer musicians visit The Shores at Peconic Landing on the last Friday of every month. The program began Friday, October 30, 2015, featuring East End Arts School alumnus Sheree Elder, a unique composer, songwriter and vocalist.

Benefits of this program for patients include comfort, presence, emotional support, communication, engagement, joy, and support of physical well-being.

East End Arts Education Director Diane Giardi comments: “We are looking forward to a one-on-one sharing of music and time with Peconic Landing’s comfort care residents. This is an enrichment experience both for the receiver and the musicians themselves."

Peconic Landing’s Executive Vice President and Administrator of Health Services Gregory J. Garrett said: “We see the therapeutic benefits of music first hand, and the connection our seniors have with it. Now, these members have the opportunity to connect with the musicians as well. This is the start of a very meaningful program. 

Peconic Landing President and CEO Robert J. Syron adds: “We are looking forward to providing our seniors with this unique and valuable program. We want to thank East End Arts and its volunteers for their time and efforts.”

There are numerous programs across the country that go by various names and provide music by the bedside for comfort purposes (i.e. Threshold Choir). These programs can add to the quality of life and a sense of peace.

Quote by French writer Victor Hugo (1802-1885): "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent."

East End Arts is looking for musician volunteers for this project, which proves to be a very rewarding experience for those who participate. If interested, contact Diane Giardi, East End Arts Education Director, at dgiardi@eastendarts.org or 631-369-2171.

About Peconic Landing
Peconic Landing is an innovative, not-for-profit CCAC-CARF-accredited continuing care retirement community (CCRC) located on the waterfront in Greenport, NY, on the North Fork of Long Island. Among its long list of achievements, Peconic Landing is the only equity-based LifeCare community in the state of New York. It is a member of LeadingAge and LeadingAge New York and embraces a healthy, active lifestyle infused with a sense of exploration, creativity and generosity of spirit. Peconic Landing boasts a 144-acre campus that is currently home to 141 apartments and 109 cottages for Independent Living, 26-one bedroom Enriched Living apartments and accommodations for 44 members in its Skilled Nursing Care Center. In operation since 2002, the organization in September 2014 broke ground on a $44 million expansion to add 46 new apartments for Independent Living, a 16-suite Memory Care Center, a 16-suite Short-Term Rehabilitation Center, as well as renovations to refresh its existing Community Center amenities. Completion of the expansion effort is on track for a Spring 2016 opening. To learn more about Peconic Landing or LifeCare visit PeconicLanding.org.
 

The Expansion of East End Arts Music by the Bedside Program in 2016

East End Arts and Peconic Bay Medical Center (PBMC) are pleased to announce the start of the East End Arts Music by the Bedside program at PBMC's facility on June 3, 2016. Hosted at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, this experiential music program brings one-on-one live music performances to the bedside of patients who are in both palliative and critical care. These special one-on-one sessions are provided by East End Arts music students and faculty, as well as musicians interested in participating in the program. East End Arts Music by the Bedside program commenced in October 2015 at Peconic Landing, the award-winning LifeCare retirement community in Greenport. Less than a year after launch, the East End Arts Music by the Bedside program at Peconic Landing received the 2016 Innovation of the Year Award by named LeadingAge New York in August 2016, and East End Arts has now expanded the program to this second location at Peconic Bay Medical Center.

“We are so happy that in less than a year of initiating the program, Music by the Bedside has had such a significant impact on individuals, both residents and the music students and faculty participants involved,” said Diane Giardi, Education Director at East End Arts. “This one-on-one personal sharing of music by the bedside has added so much to the quality of life near the end of life. We are pleased that the program has been recognized in this way.”

East End Arts Education Director Diane Giardi comments: “We look forward to continuing to expand this program to different healthcare centers on the East End, and are pleased that Peconic Bay Medical Center is a participant of this expansion. The program has proven to be an enriching experience for the receiver and the musicians themselves."

Donna Post, Palliative Care Nursing Coordinator at Peconic Bay Medical Center comments: "The introduction of East End Arts Music by the Bedside program for our patients has been very well received. Music has enriched the services we can offer patients who are facing serious medical conditions. Music provides a diversion from long hospital days, and the unfavorable symptoms that patients may experience. Regardless of language or physical condition, music really is universal. It provides comfort, relaxation, and can provoke happy memories. Thank you to East End Arts for sharing the talents of musicians to enhance the lives of those who are suffering with illness. I want to share one story of a patient who was listening to a vocal student: the patient said to me she wished she could get up and dance, her physical condition could not provide her that wish. I stood at the end of the bed and told her she could tap her feet against my palms. For a short period her eyes closed, she tapped her feet and was lost in her memories of long ago days. This patient has since past, but this program brought such joy to her failing body – it was a gift."

"My experience drumming and sounding tuning forks for a patient and her family through East End Arts Music by the Bedside program was wonderful," shares John Kowalchyk, volunteer musician. "The hospital staff noted it was the first time she saw the patient's [adult] son smiling. He really enjoyed playing the drum with me. I was lifted as I witnessed the relief the two visitors felt during our session. For that short time, they broke free from their worries and sadness. What they don't know is how much joy I felt for being with them."

About Peconic Bay Medical Center
Peconic Bay Medical Center (PBMC) is a not-for-profit medical facility located in Riverhead, New York, which provides exceptional care for the communities of Eastern Suffolk County and all of Long Island. PBMC offers a wide range of health care services and wellness programs supported by state-of-the-art technology. Key services include a designated stroke center, an emergency center that treats over 30,000 patients a year, the award-winning Kanas Center for advanced surgery including the home of the da Vinci Surgical Robotics Program and winner of the joint commission gold seal for it's hip and knee joint replacement service. To learn more about the Peconic Bay Medical Center visit pbmchealth.org.

For more information about East End Arts Music by the Bedside, contact Diane Giardi, East End Arts Education Director at 631-369-2171 or dgiardi@eastendarts.org.

In the News: East End Arts Music by the Bedside