Playing music to people with dementia from their formative years vastly improves their cognizance and lucidity - the effects are dramatic, and are widely recognized by dementia and Alzheimer professionals.
Research has confirmed both the benefits of providing people who have dementia with music they remember, and the need for easy operation that such people require. The restorative effect of music therapy vastly improves the quality of life at home, mental well-being, and promotes independent living rather than relying on institutional resources.
The beneficial effects of music for people with dementia are quite outstanding; both for improving the quality of life, especially when living alone, and for its healthy restorative effects on cognizance and lucidity. A recurring problem however, has been the difficulties people with dementia face when trying to operate modern music playing equipment. Remembering how controls operate or manipulation of knobs, non-tactile buttons, and an array of confusing symbols all limit access to this well proved benefit.
The ’Simple Music Player’ has been designed to be as easy as possible to operate for the end user; that is, the person with dementia.
Setting up the player is undertaken by friends, family or caregivers, as a one time process.
Extensive trials have verified that the operation is highly intuitive and does not require any prior knowledge or memory to start and stop the player.
The styling is also reminiscent of old radios and is instantly recognizable as something which plays music.
To operate, there are only three controls:
- Start playing music - just lift the lid
- Skip this song - (optional) press the big button
- Stop the music - close the lid
- The music will always continue from where it was last stopped.
The volume control is designed to avoid being accidentally changed by the user.
This could lead to the music being far too loud and disturbing, or too quiet so it may appear to be ’broken’ if hard of hearing or confused.
To adjust the volume, using a pencil or similar, press and hold one of the buttons underneath the player.
Only after holding the control for 5 seconds the volume will begin to increase or decrease, so it can be set to the appropriate level.
Simple Music Player’ is a preloaded MP3 player which comes in two versions: Red and Green. They are functionally identical so they all operate in the same way. The intention is for the player to be installed and left powered on, allowing the user to operate it at will without any other requirement than to lift or lower the lid to start or stop the music.
The only other control available to the regular user is a large button which skips onto the next tune when pressed.
Their construction is highly durable consisting of a strong wooden enclosure with a high strength plastic covering. The loudspeaker grille is cloth finished but reinforced with a steel mesh to avoid any damage to the speaker. Rubber feet ensure that the player does not slip. It can be wiped down with a damp cloth if required.
A Music Player for Alzheimer's and Dementia can be used anywhere in the world and is automatically configured to suit your national power supply.
