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Can Listening to Music Help Us Work Better?

February 27th, 2010

There are many people who like to listen to music while they work and I am certainly one of them. I find it helps me focus more on the task at hand. Of course I can imagine that there are people who listen to music because it helps them NOT to focus on their job.


Whilst there may be many reasons for wishing to listen to music in the workplace, can it really improve your productivity?


We know that music can alter your mood. Films have been using musical scores for years to create the right mood for a scene. At times you hardly notice the music at all but you are very receptive to the mood being conveyed. So can we use music to put us in a “productive” mood?


Research seems to support such a claim. For example, a trial where 75 out of 256 workers at a large retail company were issued with personal stereos to wear at work for four weeks showed a 10% increase in productivity for the headphone wearers. Other similar research conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois found a 6.3% increase when compared with the no music control group.


So if we accept that music does increase productivity, does it matter what types of music we listen to? Does all music have the same effect or are certain types better in certain circumstances?  Read more...

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Posted in Classical Music

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Nontraditional Therapies To Help Someone With Alzheimer’s

February 23rd, 2010

Conventional treatment for Alzheimer’s disease focuses on medication, emotional support, and forms of behavior modification to help a person remember better and cope with everyday activities. Here are some additional forms of therapy that have also been found useful for people with the disease. You can find therapists who provide such services or adapt them for use at home.

Note that no therapy of any kind has been found to reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s. But it’s possible to slow its course or simply improve the quality of life for someone battling the disease.

As many pet owners will attest, just being around an animal can have a soothing effect. This is the idea behind pet therapy for people with Alzheimer’s disease, who are at particular risk for anxiety and depression. In this kind of therapy, the pet’s human companion introduces the animal — whether it’s a dog, cat, guinea pig, or other domestic pet — to the person with Alzheimer’s and helps the interaction go smoothly and safely. These visits generally occur in nursing homes, adult day centers, and hospitals, but of course the idea can be used in the home as well.

The benefits of pet therapy include lowering anxiety and stress, encouraging communication, improving mood, and lowering blood pressure. People with Alzheimer’s may feel especially comfortable with a pet because it lets them interact nonverbally.  Read more...

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Posted in Music therapy

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My Rheumatoid Arthritis Is Responding To Methotrexate And A Biologic Drug… Are There Non-drug Therapies That Will Help Me Too?

February 18th, 2010

The cornerstone of successful treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an early diagnosis and aggressive medical therapy. In addition, though, there are non-drug therapies that can be beneficial for many patients.

The following is a rundown of things that help patients at our center.

While glucosamine sulfate/ chondroitin have been used mainly to treat osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, it can be helpful in the patient with both RA as well as OA. There is very little data regarding its use in patients with both conditions. However, many patients report that symptoms improve with the addition of a good quality form of glucosamine and chondroitin.

If a patient is a smoker, there is abundant evidence indicating that smoking increases the risk of developing RA. In one study looking at more than 350,000 women, those who smoked more than 25 cigarettes per day had a relative risk of 1.4 of developing RA compared with those who never smoked. In addition, patients with RA who smoked were more likely to develop aggressive joint disease associated with more joint damage, rheumatoid nodules (swelling under the skin near joints), and higher levels of rheumatoid factor, a blood test that correlates closely with disease activity.  Read more...

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Posted in Music therapy

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Autism Speech Language Therapy – How to Help Children With Autism

February 6th, 2010

Autism Speech Language Therapy

Having a child amongst autism, hearing that chiefly diagnosis, or questioning some of the the beginning of behavioral issues, for a parent, can be a trying and often isolating time. Sifting through the voluminous information on causes, treatments, and therapies can also be relatively overwhelming, really with no one to offer guidance. To begin with, if you’re a parent, or know someone, who has a concern about atypical behaviors in their child, you should begin by receiving a medical evaluation by your family practitioner. Autism Speech Language Therapy

If a concern is noted regarding PDD/NOS (some of the characteristics of autism) or autism spectrum disorder, the family or parents can request that their school district provide a comprehensive psychological-educational evaluation that identifies the need for fine/gross motor, socio-emotional, academic, and speech language supports. The evaluation can result in the recommendation of many related services, ie. occupational and/or physical therapy (OT/PT), academic support, social skills, or speech language skills.

There are a host of unique and effective methods, or treatments, for dealing with autism, though there is no cure at the moment. Educational interventions are vital for children to learn academic subjects and also social interaction and cognitive skills, reduce disruptive behaviors, and help them apply their new skills into unique situations and environments. Applied behavior analysis, communication intervention, sensory integration, and music therapy are just a few of the many different therapies and programs available to help parents work with their child with autism. Autism Speech Language Therapy  Read more...

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Posted in Music therapy

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