Australian Researchers in Tune with Musical Innovations for Dementia Patients

TEMPO.CO, Sydney - An app and an integrated sensor system are being developed in Australia to enable family caregivers to better use music to support people who have dementia.

Felicity Baker, a professor from the University of Melbourne's Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit, said music was often an invaluable way for those with dementia to access their long-term memories.

In an article posted on the university's website on Tuesday, August 23, Baker said hearing familiar songs can enable people to "become more oriented to their environment and reconnect with their family members through shared meaningful musical experiences."

Baker said the therapeutic innovation, called Music Attuned Technology -- Care via eHealth (MATCH), was designed to "stimulate autobiographical recall, regulate arousal, decrease the severity of challenging behaviors, reduce depression, and enhance mood."

The app will include programs to train family carers to strategically use music as a tool to help reduce their loved one's dementia symptoms such as sudden distraught moods or unprovoked anger.

Baker said the app was created following two clinical trials: one where music therapists ran programs for dementia patients in a residential aged care facility, and the other involved music therapists coaching family carers on how to assist their loved ones while still at home.

Ultimately, the app will be used in conjunction with high-tech sensor devices, to be worn by dementia patients, that will be capable of detecting behavioral changes, such as a spike in aggression.

Driven by artificial intelligence, the sensors will "learn" a patient's typical behavioral patterns so that any sudden changes can be immediately detected which will activate the patient's preferred music to soothe their moods.

Baker said the music's tempo, style, and volume will continuously adapt to meet the patient's present needs.

The MATCH team is currently testing the app program with families around Australia and is continuing to work on the sensor and its AI technology component.

The researchers hope to launch the app next year while the sensor system is due by 2025.

Xinhua

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