Although Calgary’s South Health Campus isn’t likely the first venue that comes to mind when thinking of concert performances, this February, a pilot program aims to change that view.

Local non-profit organization YouQuest, which supports individuals with young onset dementia, has partnered with Calgary-based technology firm Stagehand to bring a series of 10 concerts to the hospital.

The aim, said Kelly Morstad, founder and board member for YouQuest, is to share what the organization has learned over the past half-decade: That music can help patients.

“The overwhelming health and wellness benefits of the music part of the YouQuest program, it’s just evident every single time,” he said.

“The thing that guides us is, make the day a great day. So, when people come to us, it’s all about having a great day. It really doesn’t matter what age or stage you are at in your life: the volunteers that flock there, the caregivers relief, the recreational therapists and musicians, everybody wins.”

Morstad said that throughout the organization’s history, helping to connect people who are in the most physically active stages of their lives, and yet are diagnosed with dementia, has been elevating.

“If you start thinking about it, you’ve lost your social groups at work, you’ve lost your social groups in sports, you’ve got intimate implications. All of these things just come at you, and your family is suddenly put into a really significant distress situation,” he said.

“So these people, when they come to YouQuest, if you make it the coolest place to be in town they don’t feel quite as victim, quite as affected by these things, because they’ve actually got some really good things going on, even if this isn’t what their plan in life was.”

Interest immediate by healthcare professionals

The pilot program came about through conversations that Morstad and Stagehand founder Derek Manns were having with the executive leadership team at the South Health Campus, Alberta Health Services, and the provincial government.

The government provided a one-time Cultural Industries Initiative grant of $11,300 to hire musicians through Stagehand to play the concerts at the hospital.

Morstad said that the grant from the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Status of Women was a natural fit.

“We all agreed that music would be a fabulous addition to [the South Health Campus], but there really wasn’t any easy way to fund it through Alberta Health. Anytime you’re having to make an argument for an electric wheelchair versus a musical performance, it’s not going to happen,” he said.

“So, I took that to Arts and Culture, and said, ‘you know what, this is actually your project in the hospitals, and propose that we do a pilot.’ To their enormous credit, they said, ‘hell yes.’ So, we’re doing this, and it’s costing very little.”

Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women Tanya Fir and Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange both, in written statements, praised the pilot as a way to support health and culture at the same time.

“Alberta has a large and talented music community. This project is an innovative way to use public spaces to showcase Alberta talent while bringing joy to others. I look forward to seeing the results of this creative approach to music industry growth and wellness in Alberta,” said Minister Fir.

Nothing unusual about helping people with music

Manns said that there was nothing unusual for Stagehand about booking artists into a venue like the South Health Campus, even if the venue itself was unusual.

“We work with the Downtown Association; we were in commercial office towers, we were in Plus 15s, we were in Century Gardens, which even though it’s a beautiful park can also be a challenging park right beside the CTrain station,” Manns said.

“We’re really looking for places where people already are. People are obviously already spending time at hospitals, for better or for worse, and we’re looking to bring the experience to them rather than expecting them to come to the experience.”

Morstad said that on the research side, the data being captured from feedback about the concerts was exciting to researchers looking into the effect of music on wellness.

“One of the other things that we’re going to be doing through this, is talking about what it does to the environment in the hospital. What does it do for workers that they can take a break and go down and catch this?” Morstad said.

He said that the outcome of the program would be evaluated to see if it warrants funding and expansion into other Calgary hospitals.

“We’ll let the data speak to that, but you’d hear it from me and it might sound like salesmanship, I think it’s going to be really good,” Morstad said.