This one we don't have, but might buy next.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4004568
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
This is a copy of an article. I don't want to lose it.
For Elders With Dementia, Musical Awakenings
EnlargeMichael Rossato-Bennett
Joe, a nursing home resident, broke into song during a personalized music session. His story and others are documented in the film Alive Inside.
COMMENTS FROM THE NPR COMMUNITY
Wow, this was a driveway moment for me, I am a social service worker in a nursing home and I couldn%u2019t wait to get in the house to see the video. I sat at my home desk and cried as every day we all work hard to give our residents quality of life and enjoyment, and any social worker or activity worker can tell you there are many residents like Henry and would give just about anything to give them just a moment of happiness like henry. I can%u2019t wait to go to work and share this story.
Henry, an elderly Alzheimer's patient in an American nursing home, recently became a viral star. In a short video that has been viewed millions of times online, he starts out slumped over and unresponsive — but undergoes a remarkable transformation as he listens to music on a pair of headphones.
YouTube
The clip is part of a documentary called Alive Inside, which follows social worker Dan Cohen as he creates personalized iPod playlists for people in elder care facilities, hoping to reconnect them with the music they love. Cohen tells NPR's Melissa Block that the video of Henry is a great example of the link between music and memory.
"He is able to actually answer questions and speak about his youth, and this is sort of the magic of music that's familiar for those with dementia," Cohen says. "Even though Alzheimer's and various forms of dementia will ravage many parts of the brain, long-term memory of music from when one was young remains very often. So if you tap that, you really get that kind of awakening response. It's pretty exciting to see."
Cohen says his goal is to make access to personalized music the standard of care at nursing facilities. An early concern, he says, was that headphones might isolate the patients even further. But when he first implemented the project on a large scale in 2008, putting 200 iPods in four facilities around New York, he got the opposite result: a flood of stories from the staff about increased socialization.
"People wanted to share their music with others: 'Here, you've gotta listen to this,' or 'What was the name of that song?' " Cohen says. "The music is great, but to me, perhaps the even bigger win is people having better and more relationships with those around them."
DAN COHEN'S TIPS ON MUSIC AND THE ELDERLY
Get the playlist right. Find out the person's tastes and create a varied mix: no more than five to seven songs per artist. Have them weed out tracks that are so-so, so you end up with 100 or 200 songs that all resonate.
Keep it simple. Make sure the elder knows how to use the player, or that someone nearby can help. Use over-ear headphones rather than earbuds, which can fall out.
Be patient. It can take time to reach the music memory. If the person is responding, feel free to sing along. If someone doesn't like the headphones, try a small speaker at first and incorporate the headphones gradually over time.
Keep it special. Don't leave the player on all the time. Nursing homes are finding it works well during transitions: If someone is hesitant to take a bath or eat or get dressed, music may help move things along.
Cohen admits that the realities of funding and staffing mean that not all nursing homes will have the appetite for this level of individualized care. However, he points out that the pace of technological advancement is making iPods cheaper and easier to round up.
"My goal has been to find ways of bringing the cost down to zero," he says. "Since there have been so many generations of new digital devices that come fast and furious, we havethe old iPods — many of us in our drawers at home — so let's bring them in. On Long Island, there are five school districts that are running iPod donation drives."
Cohen says that, ultimately, the project is about helping people remember who they are.
"When you leave your home, you leave your family, you leave your surroundings and you go into a new environment; it's tough," he says. "So anything that you can maintain or stay connected with that relates to you [is helpful]. And what's more core to your being than music?"
"When you leave your home, you leave your family, you leave your surroundings and you go into a new environment; it's tough," he says. "So anything that you can maintain or stay connected with that relates to you [is helpful]. And what's more core to your being than music?"
Alive Inside screens April 18, 20 and 21 at the Rubin Museum in New York City. You can learn more, and see additional clips from the film, at the Music & Memory website.
For Elders With Dementia, Musical Awakenings : NPR comments2
(This is a copy of the original NPR page. -M)
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For Elders With Dementia, Musical Awakenings
For those interested in more on this aspect, see the article by Wendy Chatterton, Felicity Baker, and Kylie Morgan. 2010. The Singer or the Singing: Who Sings Individually to Persons With Dementia and What Are the Effects? Am.J.Alzheimers Dis.Other Demen. 25(8): 641-649. It is found at http://aja.sagepub.com/content/25/8/641.abstract. You can download the pdf and other articles in this journal for free until 04/30/12 if you register first.
April 20, 2012 8:28:12 PM EDT
I have experienced this, also. A trip to the rec room to ask my Dad to help me practice some piano music "turns on the lights," and I get a good piano lesson from this man who is otherwise passively confused or frustrated. Yet, when I leave, he goes back to his "normal." A big barrier seems to be technology. If there were a way to set up the playlists on a device in the person's room with a big, simple, physical on/off button, a volume control and perhaps (but maybe not) a way for the person to select playlists 1,2,3 or 4, we'd have a break thru. The other thing that might be useful is a simple way for someone else to update the "radio stations" with holiday or seasonal music. A TV remote is too difficult. An iPod and headset is not manageable. A CD player isn't much better. The internet which the rest of us depend on is not accessible. People are reduced to being parked in their rooms in front of endless game shows or morning "news." I would like to encourage any young people wanting to do a "service project" to take this challenge: one person at a time.
April 20, 2012 7:50:54 PM EDT
My grandma moved in with my husband and I over a year ago. She had been living alone for 42 years since her husband died. It was a very difficult transition for her at first living with us but with demmentia in her life living alone was no longer an option. One time we took her to a senior center hoping to possibly broaden her horizons. My grandma got very upset in the center and we left immediately. She wanted to return to Arizona where she had been living; it was a terribly long 4 hours. I do not know why but I started to practice my clarinet. She listened and she finally calmed down. I have lost track of times where my husband and I would just break out in song in order to quite my grandma's emotions. Thanks for much for sharing this article. Music is wonderful!
April 20, 2012 7:13:30 PM EDT
I work for a wonderful organization called 'Concerts in Motion.' One of the services we offer is - through coordination with medical and social service agencies - to bring music into the homes of home-bound seniors in NYC. We send pairs of professional musicians to play for those people who are not able to attend group concerts. We are able to play, or sing, any type of music that is requested. It is a tremendously rewarding experience every time. We also provide group and student concerts. Our website is http://concertsinmotion.org/
April 20, 2012 12:47:40 PM EDT
Caring for my mother, first with Parkinson's, then with Dementia, for over 12 years, I found that playing some of her favorite old time music was one of her most pleasurable times. I have a subscription to Pandora on the Internet and created a George Shearing station - my mother used to play the piano and George's era pop tunes were some of her favorites. Now, she is in a board and care facility and I just ordered a handful of CD's, George of course, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington and Johnny Mathis. I thought about an MP3 player, but, my mom likes to dismantle anything she can get her hands on, so I talked to the board and care owner and asked if mom's roommate would mind if I set up some gentle music to play when she is in her room resting and she thought that her roommate would probably enjoy it, too. So, I just bought an inexpensive portable CD player and the staff can just change a CD every once in awhile. I can't wait to get it set up for her as I know it will improve the quality of her life immediately. Perhaps nursing homes should consider playing soft music over their PA systems. I've worked in and visited nursing homes for over 40 years and think that might improve the environment and entertain the patients, too.
April 20, 2012 12:24:06 PM EDT
Thank you for this amazing program. Decades ago, before much was known about Alzheimer's, as my father lost more and more of his memory, he would stand before a wall of family pictures for long periods of time. Pictures of he an mom when young, my brother and our portraits when very young, our graduation and wedding pictures. Even then I instinctively knew he was connecting to his past in some way. And though I did not know how to do it then, I have since sensed that music could make those same connections to our first memories. This report and the videos on youtube are almost miraculous for family and staff alike. With a strong family history, I am writing my song list now. I can't wait to see the documentary and hope it is required watching for all owners and operators of nursing homes.
April 20, 2012 10:25:29 AM EDT
I'm making a playlist of my 90 year old mom's music this weekend....
April 20, 2012 10:14:21 AM EDT
I'VE A PROFESSIONAL ENTERTAINER FOR OVER 40 YEARS (RESTAURANTS, LOUNGES, CONCERTS, AND LATELY, SENIOR CITIZEN VENUES). THE OCCASIONAL AWAKENING OF A PERSON TO A SPECIAL SONG IS ONE OF THE MOST REWARDING EXPERIENCES IN MY PROFESSIONAL LIFE. A FEW WEEKS AGO I HAD A WOMAN IN THE AUDIENCE WHO SEEMED OBLIVIOUS TO MY MUSIC--AND EVERYTHING ELSE. ABOUT TEN MINUTES BEFORE I FINISHED HER SON CAME IN AND SAT WITH HER. I ASKED HIM IF SHE HAD A FAVORITE SONG AND HE SAID, THE TENNESSEE WALTZ. I SANG IT--AND SHE BEGAN SINGING ALONG! AS A PERFORMER, YOU CAN'T ASK FOR ANYTHING BETTER THAN THAT!
April 20, 2012 9:20:16 AM EDT
The headphones seem to be an essential part of the power of this effect. I saw that power dramatically demonstrated in my four years sharing music on headphones with the ragamuffins of my former neighborhood in Bangalore, India. I've posted a video showing the bliss these "untouchable" kids got from listening to CLASSICAL INDIAN MUSIC on headphones. View the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgHwDjIbXNI, or go to Youtube and search "The Real Slumdog Kids". Ragas for Ragamuffins!
April 20, 2012 8:15:28 AM EDT
I work as a caregiver for an elderly Alzheimers/dimentia patient and can attest to some of what was mentioned. Although a fictional story, it is worth checking out the recent movie "The Music Never Stopped" which is along the same lines only their story revolves around a patient with a brain tumor instead of Alzheimer's...
April 19, 2012 8:28:04 PM EDT
This is such an inspiration! Thanks for this article and these tips. Can hardly wait to see the full film. Music and the arts are so valuable for those with Alzheimer's. We have found that painting to music works well with our mother, calms her, helps her communicate. We first learned about the magic of the arts & Alzheimer's from seeing a documentary "I Remember When I Paint". Truly amazing. In case of interest, here is an another article that inspired us "Art & Alzheimer's: Another Way of Remembering" http://www.miller-mccune.com/health/art-and-alzheimers-another-way-of-remembering-25996/
April 19, 2012 1:39:32 PM EDT
It's great to read about the effects of music on people of any age, diagnosis, challenge, ect. However, as a board certified music therapist, I keep thinking to myself (and sometimes saying aloud as I'm reading) where is the music therapist in this article? Music therapists have been donig this work since 1950. It's great that soical workers, recreation therapists, and other activity therapist are incorporating music in their settings, but it is much more clinical and professional to have a music therapist doing the work and taking it to even more theraputic levels. Please refer to our music therapy websites for more information: www.musictherapy.org and cbmt.org
April 19, 2012 12:33:46 PM EDT
My 88 year old dad has Alzheimer's & dementia & lives with us. My husband is a musician. While my dad rides a stationary bike in my husband's studio, Chuck plays live cocktail music on the piano for my dad. Listening to cowboy music helps my dad calm down when he is experiencing "sundowners syndrome".
April 19, 2012 12:26:19 PM EDT
When someone is labeled with "dementia" or any other serious mental disorder, those around the person begin to draw back and stop expecting ANY cognitive competence, leaving the labeled person to suffer isolation; then still more disability results.
Alzheimer's is thus a social disease. We around the labeled elder must resist the tendency to give up on competence, and actively look for remaining abilities and exercise them. If long-term memory lasts, then any activity relying on that ability fits the bill.
Music is certainly one of the best. But so is reminiscence, storytelling, memoir and autobiographical writing. I like the first two because you get social interaction as a bonus with using LT memory. Cooking and sharing traditional meals from the elder's childhood has a similar effect as music, in that our sense of smell is as powerful as hearing familiar sounds...and we physically nourish ourselves as we do it!
Imagine an art gallery displaying elder's visual art while playing music from the age cohort's time. A big garden space surrounding it, with wheelchair access and paths wide enough to let two chairs pass. In Portland we have Amy Henderson's Geezer Gallery, and similar community gathering places popping up everywhere.
Alzheimer's is thus a social disease. We around the labeled elder must resist the tendency to give up on competence, and actively look for remaining abilities and exercise them. If long-term memory lasts, then any activity relying on that ability fits the bill.
Music is certainly one of the best. But so is reminiscence, storytelling, memoir and autobiographical writing. I like the first two because you get social interaction as a bonus with using LT memory. Cooking and sharing traditional meals from the elder's childhood has a similar effect as music, in that our sense of smell is as powerful as hearing familiar sounds...and we physically nourish ourselves as we do it!
Imagine an art gallery displaying elder's visual art while playing music from the age cohort's time. A big garden space surrounding it, with wheelchair access and paths wide enough to let two chairs pass. In Portland we have Amy Henderson's Geezer Gallery, and similar community gathering places popping up everywhere.
April 19, 2012 12:24:55 PM EDT
Please contact Deforia Lane, PhD (Music Therapy)and Michael DeGeorgia, MD (Neurocritical Care) at University Hospitals of Cleveland about their extraordinary work with music restoring an altered gait, mind, neural pathways. Attend the annual fascinating "Music and the Mind" one-day synposium held every fall as part of a larger Neurocritical Care conference.
April 19, 2012 11:31:12 AM EDT
Next time the verse came around we looked throughout the entire audience, and we found the singer ... he was in the very back row, he's have his head down for the verses (and had been down through the show up to that point) but when the chorus came around he'd lift his head, eyes still closed, and belt it out with a gorgeous voice!
Still gives me the shivers thinking about it today ...
Still gives me the shivers thinking about it today ...
April 19, 2012 11:11:01 AM EDT
I've seen this with my own eyes ...
From the early 1990s until the mid 2000s I worked as a volunteer sound engineer for the Merle Watson Memorial Bluegrass Festival held annually in Wilkesboro, NC. My job was to go out with my partner Gary and set up sound systems at schools, nursing homes, and other community venues so that festival performers could put on free shows for the people in the county.
One year we were doing a gig at a nursing home in Wilkesboro; the performer was George Hamilton IV, a gospel/country singer popular in the 60s. Nursing home gigs were set up in the community room or cafeteria, and as we are setting up and testing they start bringing in the residents. They generally arrange the audience such that the "awake" folks were in the front, with the level of "awakeness" decreasing until you got to the unresponsive ones in the back.
George IV kicked off his show, and about 20 minutes in he was doing some kind of train song (I'm not much into the 60's country scene). It was a typical song, lots of verses and a catchy chorus. A couple of choruses in, I noticed a beautiful strong baritone voice .. I scanned the front rows and didn't see anyone who looked like they could be making that much sound. continued..
From the early 1990s until the mid 2000s I worked as a volunteer sound engineer for the Merle Watson Memorial Bluegrass Festival held annually in Wilkesboro, NC. My job was to go out with my partner Gary and set up sound systems at schools, nursing homes, and other community venues so that festival performers could put on free shows for the people in the county.
One year we were doing a gig at a nursing home in Wilkesboro; the performer was George Hamilton IV, a gospel/country singer popular in the 60s. Nursing home gigs were set up in the community room or cafeteria, and as we are setting up and testing they start bringing in the residents. They generally arrange the audience such that the "awake" folks were in the front, with the level of "awakeness" decreasing until you got to the unresponsive ones in the back.
George IV kicked off his show, and about 20 minutes in he was doing some kind of train song (I'm not much into the 60's country scene). It was a typical song, lots of verses and a catchy chorus. A couple of choruses in, I noticed a beautiful strong baritone voice .. I scanned the front rows and didn't see anyone who looked like they could be making that much sound. continued..
April 19, 2012 11:09:06 AM EDT
Oliver Sacks has been writing about this for years (he was the original "Awakenings" doctor).
April 19, 2012 9:19:20 AM EDT
I have worked as a Certified Music Practitioner for 12 years and can testify to the power of LIVE therapeutic music. I work on a lock-down dementia unit and have had residents who were suffering from aphasia suddenly belt out songs in response to my playing "Beautiful Dreamer" on my harp. Ipods and other devices are nice, but they cannot respond to the immediate needs of the resident/patient. I have had end stage cancer patients report that they don't need their pain medication because the music 'takes it away'... therapeutic music is a wonderful tool - To learn more about live therapuetic music, please visit www.mhtp.org!
April 19, 2012 9:12:09 AM EDT
My grandfather spent the last two years of his life largely isolated in his head. One day when I was visiting him in his nursing home, a school group came in to sing Christmas carols. Even though he rarely spoke anymore, he lifted his chin off his chest and sang Silent Night in his strong baritone voice. He got every word right.
April 19, 2012 3:15:25 AM EDT
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Alzheimer's is thus a social disease. We around the labeled elder must resist the tendency to give up on competence, and actively look for remaining abilities and exercise them. If long-term memory lasts, then any activity relying on that ability fits the bill.
Music is certainly one of the best. But so is reminiscence, storytelling, memoir and autobiographical writing. I like the first two because you get social interaction as a bonus with using LT memory. Cooking and sharing traditional meals from the elder's childhood has a similar effect as music, in that our sense of smell is as powerful as hearing familiar sounds...and we physically nourish ourselves as we do it!
Imagine an art gallery displaying elder's visual art while playing music from the age cohort's time. A big garden space surrounding it, with wheelchair access and paths wide enough to let two chairs pass. In Portland we have Amy Henderson's Geezer Gallery, and similar community gathering places popping up everywhere.
Still gives me the shivers thinking about it today ...
From the early 1990s until the mid 2000s I worked as a volunteer sound engineer for the Merle Watson Memorial Bluegrass Festival held annually in Wilkesboro, NC. My job was to go out with my partner Gary and set up sound systems at schools, nursing homes, and other community venues so that festival performers could put on free shows for the people in the county.
One year we were doing a gig at a nursing home in Wilkesboro; the performer was George Hamilton IV, a gospel/country singer popular in the 60s. Nursing home gigs were set up in the community room or cafeteria, and as we are setting up and testing they start bringing in the residents. They generally arrange the audience such that the "awake" folks were in the front, with the level of "awakeness" decreasing until you got to the unresponsive ones in the back.
George IV kicked off his show, and about 20 minutes in he was doing some kind of train song (I'm not much into the 60's country scene). It was a typical song, lots of verses and a catchy chorus. A couple of choruses in, I noticed a beautiful strong baritone voice .. I scanned the front rows and didn't see anyone who looked like they could be making that much sound. continued..
1) You can buy one song instead of an entire album. That is HUGE.
2) Records, cassettes, and CDs can be damaged/broken and will lose sound quality over time. If you're going to let multiple patients share music, you'd be looking at replacing albums every several years or less.
3) iPods or any mp3 player will be easy to move from one patient's room to another and can be taken on the go or while exercising.
4) The patient doesn't have to deal with fast-forward/rewind like they would with cassettes.
I did wonder about how easily an elderly dementia patient can use an iPod, but apparently, it's possible.
El tiempo pasa y no te puedo olvidar (Time passes and I still cannot forget you)
There is a key somewhere in the structure of music, since the beginning of civilization, before the written word, that unlocks the door to our memories.
I wish the "iPod" thing hadn't taken over like "Kleenex" — well, esp. because it hasn't yet transferred to being a generic term that applies to any digital music player. The technology is great, and music is great, but Apple doesn't deserve any credit here.
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Especially when their stock is at $600 per share and they are paying $1.50 per hour for labor.
I wish the "iPod" thing hadn't taken over like "Kleenex" — well, esp. because it hasn't yet transferred to being a generic term that applies to any digital music player. The technology is great, and music is great, but Apple doesn't deserve any credit here. Furthermore, none of this even required the new digital technology really. Even CD players or cassette players would have worked here.