Veterans, Residents, and Sector Impact

Rhythms of Remembrance

An innovative new project features Veterans recording the sound of their heartbeat and using it to create audio legacies. To date, eight Veterans have participated in Rhythms of Remembrance: Co-Creating Veteran Legacies through Musical Heartbeat Recordings.

“Feeling-wise, it really grabs you,” says Master Warrant Officer Gail Fugere (Ret'd), a Perley Health resident who served 32 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Like other participants, Gail Fugere worked with a Music Therapist to record her heartbeat and create a unique audio piece—in her case, a song for her daughter.

“I hope she'll listen to it in the future and say, ‘I remember that' and maybe even chuckle or laugh,” says Fugere.

The project aims to address the social isolation commonly felt by many Veterans, particularly those nearing end-of-life or who live with complex medical conditions. To meet this need, the project encourages creativity, collaboration and connection. Participants can mix the sound of their heartbeat into an existing recording or use it as the basis for an original song. Another option is to record themselves narrating a story, then mix that recording with a bed track that features their heartbeat. Participants can also choose to involve friends or family members, and to keep the recordings or give them as gifts. Some may also agree to post them to the Perley Health website.

The project, funded by the Government of Ontario and by donations to the Perley Health Foundation, involves a unique collaboration between Music Therapists and the Centre of Excellence in Frailty-Informed Care™. The therapists and Centre of Excellence have written a guidebook that retirement residences and long-term care homes can use to replicate similar programs.

Music Therapist Tim Cote works on a guitar part for the Rhythms of Remembrance project. Veteran residents record their heartbeats, and partner with Tim and fellow Music Therapist, Patricia Deek, to integrate them into personalized audio legacies.