Recognized by the Illinois Association of Music Therapy, The Selfhelp Home receives Advocacy Award and receives AJAS Association for Jewish Aging Services
Just in 2024, The Selfhelp Home has thus far earned two awards for its collaborative and inclusive music therapy program, The Friedmann/Tuber Program for Cognitive Therapies!
The Selfhelp Home was the 2024 recipient of the Illinois Association of Music Therapy (IAMT) Advocacy Award. Greater Chicago Music Therapy (GCMT) nominated Selfhelp and marks the second award Selfhelp has received this year for its music therapy program.
Earlier this year, the program was recognized by the Association of Jewish Aging Services (AJAS) with its Community Impact Award.
Mia Iliopoulos Krings, MM, CDP, MT-BC, President of IAMT, and a Board Certified Music Therapist, Certified Dementia Practitioner, and the Clinical Supervisor with GCMT, presented the award and read the following at the award ceremony that took place on March 9, 2024. During the awards ceremony Iliopoulos commended the The Selfhelp Home on its dedication to incorporating music into the care it provides to it’s residents.
“Right away, it was clear that Selfhelp “got it” seeing the positive impact of music therapy, ensuring it be used purposefully, differentiating it from other services, and seeing the possibilities of music therapy and the role it could play. ”
When Selfhelp staff expressed interest in potentially offering a few music therapy sessions during a phone call in early 2021, they asked GCMT’s director, Rebecca J. Froman Freiman, MA, MT-BC, if she had ever heard of The Selfhelp Home. Turns out, she had indeed: Her great-grandmother and grandmother were involved in the organization in the 1940s, and her father was active with the board in the 1980s prior to her grandmother living there, making the opportunity to work with the current residents in music therapy more meaningful. The Selfhelp Home has a long history of valuing high quality music programming central to Selfhelp’s busy calendar. So, it made sense to incorporate the modality of music to create meaningful opportunities for those living there to actively engage and be supported.
In October of 2021, The Friedmann/Tuber Program for Cognitive Therapies was launched in partnership with Greater Chicago Music Therapy to implement a community-wide music therapy program for those Selfhelp residents living with dementia. It started with a few weekly groups as well as individual sessions, something rarely provided by a residential care community.
The program now has multiple weekly music therapy wellness groups aimed at providing meaningful and strength-based sessions for those in skilled nursing, memory care, and assisted and independent living. Additionally, a support group was created that focuses on loss, self-expression, and mood for assisted and independent living residents, and an occupational therapy co-treatment group focused on functional rehab goals for short-term rehab patients. In addition, the program offers many individual music therapy sessions for residents in all areas of care, including triaging psychosocial needs individually on Selfhelp’s short-term rehabilitation floor.
The Selfhelp Home has welcomed GCMT’s first music therapy intern and integrated music therapy into our intergenerational programming. They have also provided education for staff, families, and community, including how staff and family can use music intentionally in their interactions with Selfhelp residents. The growth of the program allowed music therapists with different areas of expertise to be added to facilitate new services.
Photo: Mia Iliopoulos Krings, MM, CDP, MT-BC, President of IAMT, and a Board Certified Music Therapist, Certified Dementia Practitioner, and the Clinical Supervisor with GCMT.
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To learn more about our partnership with GCMT, or what it’s like to be a resident at The Selfhelp Home, please contact us for a personalized tour.
The Selfhelp Home
Ph: 773.271.0300
Email: [email protected]