For most people, singing Christmas carols is fun a way to celebrate and spread cheer with friends and family. For those at St. Anne Home in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Christmas carols serve a much higher purpose: the carols are used as music therapy for residents and as a way to bring employees and residents closer together.
Sarah McMeekin, music therapist at St. Anne Home, leads the Christmas carols, using familiar songs to spread cheer, while at the same time helping residents improve their cognitive memory, speech, and socialization. The carols are part of the St. Anne Home’s year-round music therapy program which also sponsors a resident choir.
“During the holiday season, we like to provide musical activities for our residents that get them into the Christmas spirit, while also helping them improve their quality of life,” said McMeekin. “Through our music therapy program, not only does it reach a resident’s physical and social well-being, but also assists them in dealing with life changes, loss, depression, anxiety, and other emotional and spiritual needs.”
Music therapy is just one program offered at St. Anne Home. Founded in 1964, St. Anne Home is a Continuing Care Retirement Community and a ministry of the Felician Sisters of North America. The Home is dedicated to the healing mission of Jesus Christ by providing supportive services to adults, their families and caregivers.
St. Anne Home offers a variety of services for residents including skilled nursing care, short term rehabilitation services to help people regain independence and return to home, restorative nursing care to promote independence while living at the nursing facility, assisted living services in a licensed personal care home, private residential independent living, and much more. A comprehensive spiritual care program also comforts residents with its many spiritual benefits.
Since opening more than 50 years ago, St. Anne Home has become one of the longest established and respected not-for-profit nursing home providers in Westmoreland County. St. Anne Home offers superior nursing care and rehabilitative services, while Villa Angela at St. Anne Home offers personal care services in a caring, residential setting.
St. Anne Home, a member of the Pennsylvania Catholic Health Association (PCHA), is just one of dozens of Catholic health care facilities in Pennsylvania. Together, Pennsylvania’s Catholic health care facilities serve about 3 million people of all faiths annually.
For more information on St. Anne Home visit www.stannehome.org.
