Those of us who have worked in care homes for many years will remember the struggles of tape recorders and then CD players that have been damaged or broken and the CDs which get covered in jam or separated from their cases on a regular basis. Very often, the same album will be played on a loop for days on end, so that you were either driven insane or you just didn’t notice it any more.
At last, we now have an easy solution which is affordable and achievable. However, it does take an investment of a decent smart speaker with voice assistant and a subscription to one of the main music apps (iTunes, Amazon, Spotify etc.) It still surprises me to find some care homes I visit haven’t got these, sometimes arguing limited WiFi or reluctance to pay the regular subscriptions. Another barrier can be that some have team members don’t consider themselves very tech savvy, so they don’t feel they would be able to confidently use the devices.
I have always said if only the care world would invest as much in music as it does in medicine, the world would be a better place!? We all know the power of a song or a piece of music to transport us to a happy place or memory in a moment.
Thankfully times they are a changing and we are starting to see the magic of personalised music at your fingertips in many care services. At the Glebe Centre in Ottawa, Canada, George, of African-Caribbean heritage is talking about his childhood. One of his personal support workers asks Google to play the ‘Yellow bird’ song and they sing “Yellow bird, up high in banana tree…” together with great gusto. George has a big smile on his face and is touched that we have found a song ‘by magic’ that he remembers. In another care home, Elvis enthusiasts have an ‘Elvis top hits’ playlist. Some of the Activity or Recreation teams are finding other great playlists from the 60s, 80s etc or with specific genres of music from Irish ballads and Strauss waltzes to Bollywood dances and Polish folk music.
Support for staff
Although smart speakers are easy to use, there might be some team members unconfident with technology who may feel self-conscious speaking out loud to an inanimate object in front of everyone. Give staff enough time to familiarise themselves with the voice controls and ensure that everyone feels comfortable in using the smart technologies. Hopefully it won’t be long before we have a generation of staff for whom it is the norm to use these.
Alexa, Google and Siri doesn’t of course always hear or understand you correctly and you might not always get what you ask for! But this can also generate some laughter, and generally ‘she’ gets it right in the end! Sometimes a helpful poster to prompt team members to use the smart speaker might make a difference. (example shared here)
Access to YouTube or equivalent can also be an amazing resource on your television whether it is seated exercises, nature videos, funny clips of children playing and cute animals. You can also access old comedy sketches or singers, poetry recitals and songs with Karaoke style captions to enhance participation. Sometimes it is again worth an investment in time of the Recreation/Life Enrichment/Activity teams to source a range of helpful YouTube videos to save time in doing the search, which can be fiddly using the keyboard letters. These can be saved in favourites for regular use. This can also be helpful for team members who are younger or from other parts of the world, so won’t necessarily be familiar with the kinds of things which the older adults might enjoy.
A smart television offers a wealth of possibilities for those who are confident to use its functions, but good quality WiFi is an essential component, and really should now be available without question in every care service.
Connecting your laptop or phone to a large screen
Apple products – phones and ipads – come with mirroring capability built in – so it’s very easy to showcase your screen to a wider audience.
https://uk.pcmag.com/mobile-phones/40528/how-to-connect-your-iphone-or-ipad-to-your-tv
This might be good for sharing photos or artwork created on some of the free art apps.
You can also do this via an appropriate adapter or HDMI cable, which are very affordable.
Hopefully the need for this kind of blog to reinforce these possibilities will not be needed soon, when Alexa, Google or Siri will be an accepted and valued member of your team!
Sample-posters-for-Sally-blog-on-Alex-and-Google
Consultant Trainer MCM