Residents respond quickly to personalized iPod playlists and laser beam music
technology
Mechanicsburg, PA – Bethany Village has seen surprisingly rapid and positive results through two new high-tech music therapies for residents in assisted living and skilled nursing at the continuing care retirement community. One program has put 48 iPods and personalized playlists into the hands (and ears) of residents age 85 to 97. Another tool, Beamz, lets residents create music by interacting with laser beams, offering a unique and motivating type of fine motor therapy.
Share your frustrations and favorite features for cell phones, microwaves, TV remotes, and other gadgets at the Cognitive Accessibility Facebook page. This project needs your ideas.
NEW YORK, NY – Directly addressing the major—and life-threatening—issue of wandering among individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) and Breadcrumb L.L.C. today announced the rollout of a state-of-the-art locator device and caregiver-friendly monitoring system. This innovative new tracking device is designed specifically for the dementia population and aimed at immediately and precisely pinpointing a person’s whereabouts.
Veterans Day is a reminder of a well-recorded past. Watch aging veterans assemble in parks, read about Honor Flight – where veterans aged 83 to 100 are flown from across the country to Washington to visit the World War II and other memorials. Veterans Day is a moment in which the history and backgrounds of individuals are celebrated, speeches are given, flags are waved. Sit next to veterans at one of these events and they will proudly tell you about the remembered past. I wonder how many of them, though, have actually left a recorded (or video) version of that remembered past for family members?
Should video monitoring be required in small assisted living homes? In recent Senate testimony, ALFA president Rick Grimes sounded a bit defensive about the regulatory oversight of assisted living facilities (ALFs) in Florida (aka 'group homes' in other states). Let's back up: Even when multiple residents died of abuse and neglect and inspections revealed multiple violations, the Agency for Health Care Administration didn’t close these troubled small homes down. Says Mr. Grimes: regulation in all fifty states (aka 50 different sets of regulations) is plenty adequate, and by the way, each state’s seniors are ‘different’ -- the Florida deaths were due to ‘management’ issues.
West Bend, WI – November 2, 2011 – GrandCare Systems and Coro Health today announced a strategic collaboration to integrate Coro Health’s Streaming Music into GrandCare’s fully-featured remote activity of daily living monitoring, telehealth and socialization system. The result is a harmonious experience: giving the GrandCare customer a deeper level of musical entertainment, passion and familial communication.
