Five Questions With… Dr. Donald Macaskill
Since we launched Five Questions With in May, we had the aim of bringing our community a range of perspectives from the health and social care sector on how transformative using music in the care of someone living with dementia can be.
For the latest edition, we’re honoured to be joined by Dr. Donald Macaskill, the Chief Executive of Scottish Care, who discusses not only how transformative the use of songs from a person’s life can be to their wellbeing, but shares what can be done to support Scotland’s care workforce and what makes him passionate about his role.
Listen to Dr. Macaskill’s personalised playlist at the end of the feature.
Hi Donald, thanks for taking the time to talk to us.
Scottish Care is the voice of the independent care sector. You provide a voice for people accessing care, as well as those who deliver it. We know that meaningful music can be beneficial to the person delivering care, just as much as the person receiving care, as it fosters meaningful connections. What else do you think can be done to support the wellbeing of Scotland’s care workforce?
If and when I ask frontline staff what would make a difference to them, the most important thing they will tell me is less programmes, less new innovations and initiatives and rather a return to a situation where they feel valued and have space to be as well as to do. So, a priority is better pay, terms and conditions which will speak of value and respect to our frontline staff. A second priority is changing the way we do things so that we stop cramming more and more into timeslots, so that staff in the community and in care homes can spend time listening to folks, being there to get to know folks and simply being present without expectation of activity.
The Scottish Government recently included Playlist for Life in its new dementia strategy as an example of an effective non-pharmacological intervention. You have long been an advocate and supporter of Playlist for Life – why do you believe it can play an important role in care?
I was delighted to see Playlist for Life included. We have relied too much in the past upon pharmacological intervention and approaches like Playlist for Life help to underline that most care and support is being with people. But inclusion in a document or policy is not enough it also requires a commitment from Scottish Government to support, to resource and to train the workforce.
Music has a power all of its own. It is a conversation which is always unique and individual between the creator/musician and the listener. It helps with remembrance and as a touch base of memory, of enabling behaviour which might be challenged to be managed better, and of giving what music often does, namely space for reflection, quietude and rest. But music is always, for me at least, about pulling people into a new future, a new conversation and a new direction. Playlist for Life is not just a tool to reminiscence but a model to enable people to be creative, to make fresh discoveries about themselves and the world they are now living in with dementia.
What makes you passionate about your role? Can you tell us about your career path and what led you to become CEO at Scottish Care?
I have done many things before I came to Scottish Care, not least in running a human rights and equality consultancy for a decade and a half, as well as managing a learning disability project, working in Higher education and in other places. What unites them all is that they are all about people. What keeps me motivated and passionate is a sense that, if I can, I want to really address the challenges I see around social care and support, not least dementia. For too long social care and those in its world have been devalued and ignored. I remain determined to advocate for real change and to not allow the games of political inauthenticity result in change being stifled.
Tells us about a time or moment when you saw the power of meaningful music in action for dementia or in another health-related scenario?
I have been very privileged to be present at the end of life in many situations. Perhaps one of the most memorable was where someone who had dementia was getting quite distressed in the last few hours of life. We put on their favourite records – old 78s – they hadn’t heard them for years. It was like opening a door so that they could find the strength to stop struggling, to rest and walk through. They died to the sounds of their youth; at a profound level they danced inside just as they had as a teenager.
Thank you to Donald for his insightful answers to our Five Questions. Our next guest is Morna Russell, an Occupational Therapy Team Lead based in Edinburgh, Scotland, who shares her experience of harnessing the power of meaningful music in her care.
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Dr Macaskill's personal playlist
‘If I should fall behind’ by Bruce Springsteen
I have been a decades long follower of the Boss, and though this is a less well known track every time I hear it I think of my late twin ‘waiting for me’. It is a song of hope.
‘An ataireachd ard’ with Karen Matheson singing
Played at my mother’s funeral it roots me into the Gaelic language of my childhood and reminds me of her. It echoes the ‘ceaseless surge’ of the sea which despite all remains in season and out.
Gerald Finzi, Cello Concerto in A minor, Op 40, Rondo
I adore the cello and this is my favourite piece. It is elegiac as a whole but the Rondo is full of stirring passion and whenever I feel without energy this fills the tank.
Psalm 23, in Gaelic sung by Kenna Campbell
This was written shortly before the funeral of John Smith. Like many I watched it on television and the acapella singing of this old Psalm just got to me. It has something of the eternal in it.
Freedom by Richie Havens
A Woodstock legend. I heard him live late on in his life and the sheer energy and passion of this just speaks of a time of hope, optimism, youthfulness and excess.
