Is it possible that using music for health improvement can have a part in increasing mobility in the elderly?

Many elderly people who are limited in their movements find they are in a catch 22 situation, in that their relatives, friends, carers etc., sometimes feel that this is the ’status quo’ and shouldn’t be changed. So in endeavoring to show ‘kindness’ people will often attempt to do everything for them, even when they are actually capable, with a little encouragement of doing it themselves. As a consequence muscles become even weaker through lack of use, joints stiffen, movement deteriorates and more help is given/needed and so the circle continues to the detriment of the ‘victim’.

Of course every situation is different depending on the persons general health and ability but sometimes a positive and pro-active approach can make a tremendous difference not only to the mobility of a person but also to the general well being or ’spirit’ of that person.

Just to illustrate by one example. Louise and I were presenting one of our interactive music workshops in a residential care home for the elderly. When we had arrived every one had been sitting watching the television with varying degrees of disinterest. There were probably twenty residents in the main lounge and we had enjoyed a ’singalong’ with them using song sheets with some old party favourite choruses and the mood had already lifted. We introduced a short excerpt from a classical piece to encourage them to relax and get their breath back.

The next piece that had been scheduled into the program was, would you believe, Bill Haleys’ “Rock around the Clock”! As usual we handed out small percussion instruments, lightweight tambourines and colourful maracas to those who could hold them. I started the music and gradually increased the volume while keeping it at a sensible level. I was amazed at the number of those in their 70’s and 80’s who actually knew most of the words! I suddenly became aware that several of the staff carers were looking with some amazement at a spot in the room behind me. When I turned around, there in the corner a little elderly lady was on her feet and jiving!

At the end of the session, the Senior Caring staff confided that this was the most movement that they had seen in ‘Betty’ for ages, as she mostly just sat in the same chair day in day out. Carers had been going out of their way to move everything within easy reach and being helpful in assisting her to get up and sit down etc. This was a side (and ability) that they had been virtually unaware of assuming that at ninety two she was OK to just ’sit around’.

The combination of the music, the camaraderie, memories, and gentle encouragement had demonstrated what her seemingly frail body was capable of.

As mentioned previously, everybody is different, but if you are in a position of carer, make good and wise use of music as an encouragement toward movement. Look for telltale signs like small hand or head movements, possibly a toe tapping and then take the opportunity to interact with the person, perhaps by making similar movements yourself or if it’s practical, gently taking a hand and encouraging movement that way. A word of caution though, think carefully about the volume level, whilst most older folk find the modern level too loud, some of course have reduced hearing capabilities and in fact need a slightly higher volume, – which may be considerably lower than our modern society may use for everyday listening!

The benefits for those that can manage simple rhythmic body or limb movements are several, muscle use, joint flexing, improved circulation, sometimes even an improvement in appetite, and above all a lifting of the spirit. What a great form of (free!) therapy music can be when chosen and used sensibly.

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When it comes to your overall mental health, stress is the biggest problem that most of face. It is also the biggest reason for many health problems that we face daily. Most of don’t even understand that stress can be the major cause of major health problems like heart problems. There are many different types of therapy that can be used to help with stress relief and music therapy is a relaxing and soothing one that can help with stress but also major and minor illnesses as well.

Music therapy services are available to adults and children with disabilities. Sessions are individually designed according to each person’s special needs. Using music and music activities, the music therapist works with each individual to address specific goals and objectives that are determined by the therapist.

With music therapy both individual and small group sessions will be conducted with regular progress evaluations. Music therapy can be done for clients with the following disabilities: Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Mental Retardation, Attention Deficit Disorder, Lowe’s Syndrome, and, Tourrette’s Syndrome.

Music Therapy may be commonly defined as the structured use of music and music activities geared toward helping individuals with disabilities meet both musical and non-musical goals. Music therapy goals may be based on behavioral, physical, cognitive, social, and emotional or language and communication. Music is a proven relaxation technique as well as a stimulant. Those who use music therapy often experience positive changes.

Music therapy is good for people of all ages may benefit from music therapy, from young children to elderly seniors. People with almost any disability have ability when it comes to music. Music Therapy clients participate through playing instruments, improvising and making up new songs, singing, or even just listening. The people that are involved in Music Therapy sessions may range from having a mild learning disability to having severe mental retardation.

Music therapists assess clients’ communication skills, social functioning, physical health and mobility, cognitive skills, and emotional well-being by how they respond to music. They design Music Therapy sessions for individuals according to their unique needs. In these tailored sessions, therapists use techniques such as music improvisation, receptive music listening, music performance on instruments and with the voice, and learning through music. That is just too cool. When you think of music in terms of therapy, it is very easy to forget how truly useful music can be. It really does sooth the savage beast within us if we let it.

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These digits are not here to only dazzle you. These digits are meant to make you realize that you’ll need to make your Myspace profile stand out of the crowd, out of the 200K plus Myspace profiles that are being created daily. That’s where you’ll need to learn some new tricks to further enhance your Myspace profile and turn it into The Myspace profile for others to emulate.

Well, everyone knows that your popularity in the Myspace virtual world is largely dependent on how well you manage your Myspace account. This would include how often you update your profile, album and many other factors. If you are able to make your profile page stand out like a pea on brown rice, people will definitely hog longer on your profile page and presto! You will get to make plenty more new friends!

All these make sense, but the trick lies in the exact quality factors that you decide to include in your Myspace profile page.

Everyone loves music. Music makes the world go round, and music makes your Myspace profile page go around too. Music that is embedded into your Myspace background forms some kind of identity. If you embed a classical number from a rock band, it simply means you are a vintage kind of person and you will most probably attract the older crowd. But if you embed Britney’s latest dance hit, then most probably people will view you as the ‘in’ thing.

Never knew that songs can play such a huge role, did you? There are various ways of embedding these tracks into your profile page. One of the methods is to use background music generators that will help you to churn out your tracks into HTML codes after which you can embed them nicely into your profile page. Another method will be to use the ready made music track widgets that can be easily attached into your site. Search for the song that you want and simply get the widget code and embed them into your profile page.

However, it is more advisable to use the music generators instead as it does not allow other viewers to ’steal’ your tracks. Since music generators require you to produce your own track, it is highly improbable for others to have similar tracks as yours. This is unlikely the case for mp3 widgets that are easily obtainable from iMeem, which allows that person to click on the widget link which will immediately direct him to a piece of HTML code.

So do use the music generators if you have a ‘limited edition’ kind of song that everyone is hunting for.

If you are running out of ideas on choosing the right kind of songs, than maybe you can try using royalty free music tracks that allows you to download the tracks and use it infinitely many times over. The good thing is that these tracks are one in a million, and as such it is almost impossible for another person to have the same background music for his or her profile page.

This is the time when the odd one out reaps the most benefit.

Promotion, promotion, promotion is the main thing you have to keep in mind as you attempt to make yourself and your songs known to the world. Simply having a Myspace and playing at a few local scenes is not going to make you famous. Sure, you’ve sold a handful of CDs, you have a moderate amount of friends on Myspace, and your mom loves what you do, but the goal is to get more attention especially important attention from music executives. To achieve this attention takes promotion of your site.

Myspace is the premier social networking site on the web but using it alone will not draw the required attention to your page. If you notice that you are not receiving the amount of plays for your songs that you were hoping and that your page is quickly going the way of the dinosaurs, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Be proactive and tenacious.

Promotional campaigns are important for your goal of being a recognized and possibly famous musician. Myspace is a way of promoting your music for free and this is why so many struggling musicians choose this method, the same is true for Facebook and Youtube. You are able to reach a large number of people, who may become fans, for free everyday. However, without additional help how are people going to know that you even have anything to promote? This is where word of mouth and viral marketing comes into play.

Word of mouth marketing has been around since our ancestors had items to barter. This is a time tested and trusted method used by large companies, corporations, and professional musicians. Take a moment and think about how you heard about some of your favorite musicians? Was it through the radio, TV, the internet, or was it from a friend who told you about them?

Word of mouth is a frequently the way news spreads about musicians and bands. You may have heard a bands name, but usually it wont be until a friend vouches for the band that you will give them a listen. This is how word of mouth works and how it can be used to work in your favor.

Some view this method as old fashioned with the introduction of the internet and advertising methods used there; however word of mouth will never fall into disuse as long as people continue to recommend, and talk about items, musicians, and other subjects of interest.

On the internet word of mouth is referred to as viral marketing and basically works the same way. Blogs, social networking sites, and other places such as forums all work to spread recommendations and news about a variety of items.

Both word of mouth and viral marketing work on the concept that if one person tells another person and that person tells two more people and so on then soon enough people will know about that object of subject to make an impact. This can work in your favor when it comes to your music.

You should ask your friends to mention your band and music to their friends, and tell as many people as you can that you have a new song out and where it can be found and how great it is. Post about it on blogs, forums, and use other sites like Youtube and Facebook to help spread the word and you will be very pleased with the results.

A great way to help entice people to come to your site is by mentioning how many plays you have for your songs. This will convince people that your songs are worth the time and all the buzz surrounding them is dead on. The dilemma is that if you do not have a solid fan base yet, or if your songs play counts are not as impressive as you would like, then you will not be able to use those figures to entice anyone.

Promotional tools are a great way of boosting play counts which will help gain fans, attention, and make heads turn. Back up claims of popular songs by actually having solid and impressive figures.

More plays and views adds an edge to your word of mouth and viral marketing efforts.

Once you are receiving a sufficient amount of traffic to your site, you will have to keep people coming back for more by updating your page, uploading new songs, and keeping up with the current information and be sure to never stop promoting.