This might be the solution Ben's been looking for.



Drum Sessions Protect Employees from Burnout
Thu Feb 19, 5:24 PM ET Add Health - By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Participating in drumming sessions may help people defend themselves from the stress and burnout that can cause them to leave their jobs, according to the findings of a new study.


All study participants were employees at a nursing home, an industry with an unusually high turnover rate. When staffers at one Pennsylvania facility participated in six drumming sessions with their coworkers, however, they experienced nearly a 50-percent improvement in mood, including a decrease in feelings of fatigue, anxiety and depression.


Moreover, during the year following the drumming sessions, 49 fewer employees resigned than had the previous year, saving the facility nearly $400,000 in costs associated with training new hires.


These findings suggest that incorporating drumming circles into the lives of employees can be a cost-effective means of helping workers and reducing turnover, both in long-term care and other industries, study author Dr. Barry Bittman said.


"We're not just talking about long-term care," said Bittman, who is based at the Mind-Body Wellness Center in Meadville, Pennsylvania. "There's no reason this wouldn't work" in other contexts, as well, he noted.


Workers in long-term care typically exhibit a turnover rate estimated at between 40- and 100-percent per year, which research shows is largely a result of emotional factors, such as burnout.


During the study, Bittman and his colleagues asked 112 employees at the Wesbury United Methodist Retirement Community to participate in drumming circles for one hour per week for six weeks. Before and after the six-week sessions, participants completed questionnaires designed to assess their mood.


Participants came from all parts of the facility, and included nurses, dietary workers, accountants, administrators and housekeepers.


In the drumming sessions, participants performed a series of exercises, including beating the drum to the rhythm of their own name, copying the rhythm of others' names, representing their feelings via drumbeats, playing along to music, and discussing ongoing stresses with the group, if they so chose.


Immediately after the sessions were completed, people showed a 46-percent improvement in mood. Six weeks after the sessions ended, the same people showed a more than 62-percent improvement in mood, suggesting that emotional boost can continue long after the music has ended.


In an interview with Reuters Health, Margaret Bailey of the Mind-Body Wellness Center, who facilitated most of the drumming sessions, said she suspected the exercise helps people because hearing the rhythm of others' names introduced coworkers, and playing together "creates a connectiveness and energy within the group."


This connectiveness, in turn, enables people to feel supported by others, talk about their problems and cope with them before a situation escalates into something that makes workers want to leave their jobs, Bailey noted.


According to Bittman, making music may bring people together better than other group activities, such as group retreats or team sports, because it is more cost-effective and accessible to people of all physical abilities. Furthermore, music may inspire more openness to others by asking people to adopt "a level of communication (they) weren't accustomed to," he noted.


Bittman added that he uses similar techniques with patients living in long-term facilities and their families, as well as those with cancer and other chronic illnesses.


The study, funded by Yamaha, appears in the journal Advances in Mind-Body Medicine. Bittman and his colleagues discussed the results Thursday during a press conference in New York.

Just what we need more noise

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

Well, we could beat you across the head a couple of times.

sinisterpentatonic said:

What Why me!!!

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

To knock someof that smartass out of ya.

sinisterpentatonic said:

eh.....my daddy would tell me the same thing when I was younger when I got mouthy with him.....

"Jessica if you don't shut your mouth I am gonna knock the smartass right out of ya."

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

Seems like it didn't work. lol

Yeah! Music therapy dude. I took 4 semesters of African Drumming in college. Lots of fun. I even got to play the master drum part.

Oh, how Grateful Dead of you. lol

My ears, my poor ears

the org needs liberal amounts of crack and heroin addicts

ArdeoTheMerciless said:

If you bring Mikey Heart then you have the crack, heroin, and drum circle covered

VinaBlue said:

Aw shit!! I'll remember to bring my jembe to the next celebration.

ArdeoTheMerciless said:

So, when are you going to invite the rest of your friends to the org?

luv4u said:

sinisterpentatonic said:

they already think i'm fucked in the head enough...why would i want to make the situation any worse

ok...i gotta go look for a vein....

sinisterpentatonic said:

Aw yeah baby. There were only 4 girls in class and we were given the cowbells and shaker parts, however I caught on so quickly that my instructor progressively gave me each drum part until I got to the master drum part. I was workin that d'jembe!

y'all come out here to venice beach and I'll show a drum circle with people from all walks of life..

i love drum circles!!

if we had an org one....i would be the chick with the tambourine banging it on her hip and dancing like crazy barefootsies in the grass

violett said:

Would there happen to be any mushrooms linked to your behaviour?

VinaBlue said:

OoOooOOo a girl with riddem!

sinisterpentatonic said:

years ago there might have been