Older adults don’t need to have spent decades in show-business to benefit from a late-stage softshoe routine.
One recent music and movement intervention program designed for seniors combines several different technologies, including augmented reality, to help them combat depression and anxiety from their condition, researchers say.
Music, and music therapy, have been recognized as a way to help enrich life for senior living community residents.
So although the concept is not new, the idea behind the recent program, Music With Movement, is to make it easier for caregivers to learn, and teach, the intervention to the residents they serve, particularly residents in memory care, the researchers said.
The program can be run on a tablet or smartphone and combines several different concepts, including augmented reality and games, the Music With Movement developers explained.
The program not only improved the mental health of older adults who used it; it also strengthened the relationship between them and their caregivers, according to published research.
The program, designed by experts at Honk Kong Polytechnic University, won a Consumer Electronics Show 2024 Innovation Award, it was announced earlier this month.
“Music is a medium of communication when one’s verbal ability is diminished,” said Daphne Cheung, PhD, Music With Movement project leader. “Technology is not for replacing human interaction but facilitating the implementation of meaningful human-to-human interaction through activities.”
One of the more popular tools that involves multisensory sounds and games for memory care residents has been the ToverTafel, which runs via an overhead projector.
Beyond dementia, another recent music therapy program uses software to help stroke victims with their physical rehabilitation, the McKnight’s Tech Daily reported earlier this year.
