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Kaitlyn Aquino • December 16, 2022

The Faces of Room 217 - Chelsea’s Story

There is no denying that music brings people together. Regardless of age, gender or race, music is a force that connects us all. At Room 217, music and a desire to help others is what has brought us all here. Each face of Room 217 comes from a different background, bringing their own unique stories and experiences to achieve one common goal: to help others with music, just like every person who is touched by and touches others through Room 217. In the coming weeks you will get to meet the faces of Room 217. Here’s Chelsea’s story.


Meet Chelsea Mackinnon. Chelsea is the Research Lead at Room 217. As the founder of Intergenerational Music Hamilton and a teacher of music and health at McMaster University, Chelsea uses her experiences in health and wellness settings to research the impact of music care on receivers and providers. I asked her some questions about her life before Room 217 and how these experiences shape her role at Room 217.


Kaitlyn: How has music impacted your life?


Chelsea: Music has been a source of joy and fun in my life for as long as I can remember! I am super grateful for my time growing up playing the piano, French horn, trumpet, violin, and singing in choirs. Music gave me so many unique opportunities, including travelling to awesome places with great people. One musical memory I will never forget is the time that my friend Karis and I wrote a 30-minute musical. We wrote all the music, lyrics, recorded backtracks and then performed it in our high school English class!


Kaitlyn: What did you do before Room 217?


Chelsea: Before Room 217 I was a student! I think it is fair to say that my role at Room 217 was my first “real job” in the field in which I’m building my career. I completed my undergraduate studies at McMaster University in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program, and was in the middle of my MA in Music and Health Sciences at the University of Toronto when I met Bev!


Kaitlyn: What led you to join Room 217?


Chelsea: I love telling this story! I met Bev Foster when she was a guest speaker in my Intro to Music Therapy course at the University of Toronto in my Master’s degree. I was immediately captivated by her energy, and felt so aligned to her work based on what I’d been working on in Hamilton communities (using music in the context of intergenerational programs to foster connection). Bev and I had a meeting to discuss our work further, and the rest is history! I’ve been happily working hard to support Room 217’s mission and vision ever since.


Kaitlyn: Is there anything else you want others to know about you?


Chelsea: Now, I’m super lucky that music is a part of my work as well as my personal life. I regularly lead sing-alongs in community care spaces in Hamilton with my organization IMHope. IMHope’s mission is to create opportunities for older adults to engage in a meaningful way with their community through music and intergenerational connections. I have the opportunity to teach caregivers about the different ways they can use music to improve the care experience for the people they care for in my role at Room 217 by contributing to research on the use of music in care at Room 217 and in partnership with McMaster University. So I’d say that music is a hugely important part of my life, and I’m so so grateful that I get to engage with it in so many diverse ways, almost every day of my life!


Chelsea’s story reminds me that when our passions and our work align, we can create something extraordinary in the lives of others.

 

 

By Shelley Neal March 8, 2024
I initially trained with MUSIC CARE to work with Seniors in Long Term Care who were experiencing dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. This is the path I travelled with my mom. My training with Music Care and Room 217 supported capacity building in selecting music that was played on my harp or chosen recorded music. The music centered on the care of the individual and their specific needs. My job was to determine the individual’s specific and select music to address these needs. The music selected helped to build community, support sleep, talk about life experiences, create a background landscape of sound, support connection to decrease isolation and loneliness, as well as coming alongside people dying. My training with Music Care helped me understand how to support people “where they were” physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Through using beat, tempo, melody, and timbre, I could cater the music and desired support required for individuals or small groups. My profession is teaching. I am a special education teacher and use music in my primary teaching as a method for learning, practicing language skills, transmitting information about science studies or math equations, as well as having fun and creating our own songs. My teacher toolkit married exceptionally well with the knowledge and skills provided by the Music Care Certification training. Recently, my work with students has involved individual programming for the medically fragile children and the palliative children. I use music (repeating the chorus several times) to engage and connect with the kiddos. We use music to "talk" about feelings (our communication is through eye gaze, eye blinks, and squeezing hands), and content material. I use music to enjoy our relationship of being together. At times, due to medication for seizures, my little ones can be very sleepy. I increase the tempo, engaging in tapping the beat on her hands and using silly action songs. The giggles and wiggles make it magical. I also use music to tell stories (my students have CVI, cortical vision impairment, so visual perception is difficult). This helps the child to engage in the story arch and adventures. Music is my conduit for reaching out and being with the students. Recently, I had the sacred journey of visiting one of my children in ICU at Sick Kids. I was invited to come to say "goodbye". A dear friend who was an ICU nurse in a different department told me (AKA, insisted) that I bring my harp with me. I wasn't sure if this would be appropriate for the family. However, with the permission of the mom, I bravely packed my harp up and took it to the Unit. It was a beautiful evening of talking with their mom and dad about how special their child was in my life. I played the kiddo's favorite songs and then ended with "The More We Get Together". The little one opened their eyes and stared at me. We hugged, and I left. They passed the next morning. I consider this time to be a sacred gift. Music Care Certification has given me the confidence and toolset to work alongside people and to journey together. It is a time a beautiful, difficult, or sacred time that I have been honoured to participate in.  Thank You
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