Music meets nature in Surrey care home study

A care home has appointed a 'Musician-in-Residence' in a pioneering study exploring how outdoor music-making can benefit older people and those with dementia.

Residents at the Huntington & Langham Estate in Hindhead, Surrey, enjoy outdoor activities from music scholar Stuart Wood as part of the pilot.

The project examines how music and nature together can boost wellbeing, social connection, and emotional expression in care settings.

Mr Wood said he hoped to understand how playing music outdoors "can foster social connection, emotional expression, and overall health in later life."

The NHS says music in a care setting can help "reduce anxiety and depression, help maintain speech and language, is helpful at the end of life, enhances quality of life and has a positive impact on carers".

It is also acknowledged that spending time outdoors can have a positive impact on the cognitive, emotional, and physical wellbeing of older people.

Mr Wood's project explores how outdoors music can further enhance social connection, uplift mood, and support mental and physical health within care home communities.

The study will form part of his Visiting Research Fellowship at Bath Spa University's School of Music and Performing Arts.

He will also share insights from this project with music students and post-graduate researchers.

Mr Wood said: "What we don't know is what happens when you bring together playing percussion and doing that outdoors, so this project is asking that question."

Sarah Chapman, the director of Huntington & Langham Estate, said she was "curious about the possibilities and the benefits of combining music and nature".

Kate Mannerings, from the company Percussion Play which supplies the instruments, said: "All this interesting feedback has made us think what can we do for the design of instruments, for the range of instruments that we offer and how can we recreate those successes in other places and give that to other care homes."

Findings from this week-long pilot study may inform a larger, international research project planned for later this year, with results expected to be published in 2026.

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