Making Music: A Harmonious Keepsake For The Terminally Ill And Their Loved Ones

Masonicare's Hospice Creates a Spiritual Musical CD

Wallingford, CT - Volunteers at Masonicare's Hospice and Palliative Care of Connecticut VNA have come together to give the gift of music to terminally ill clients and their families.

For years, this group of volunteers performed as solo artists or in small groups to sing and bring music to terminally ill clients. This program, which became known as SpiritSong, was created to help clients and their loved ones find comfort and peace during their final days. The program was so well received that the group had repeated requests to perform. They were also asked to create a more permanent musical memory that families and patients could hold onto. It was this request that sparked the idea of creating a CD of the music. Thus, the CD SpiritSong was born.

"Music is one of the best ways to communicate and soothe patients with dementia or terminal illnesses," says Tim Boon, vice president of Hospice and Palliative Care of Connecticut VNA. "This CD is not only a collection of favorite songs requested by clients, but it is also a tool to improve the emotional and spiritual quality of life for patients at the end of life."

The SpiritSong group is comprised of ten members, some from the hospice program and others from the community, who have worked together to bring religious, secular, and some original music to clients of the Hospice program.

Choate Rosemary Hall of Wallingford was extremely generous, working with the group and donating studio time and other resources to enable them to record their music and create the actual CD. The SpiritSong CD will be given to both clients and family members and used to raise funds for Hospice and Palliative Care of Connecticut VNA. To learn more about the CD or to purchase one for a suggested donation of $15, please contact 888-633-6664.

About Masonicare:

Hospice and Palliative Care of Connecticut VNA is an affiliate of Masonicare, the state's largest not-for-profit provider of senior-focused healthcare and retirement living.

Since 1994, their hospice team of nurses, home health aides, social workers, spiritual counselors, bereavement counselors, volunteers and other professionals has worked in homes, hospitals and extended care facilities throughout Connecticut, giving adults and children with terminal illness the chance to enjoy every moment that remains. According to Boon, the comfort, care and compassion hospice provides "is not about dying, it's about living."