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How Care Technologists could support people to access the soundtrack to their life
“How do I listen to a playlist?” We are asked this often, and the truth is there is no ‘one way’ to listen to a playlist. You don’t need any new equipment to enjoy your playlist and we always encourage you to use whatever works best for you when listening to music.
However, using technology can help you gather all the music that is meaningful to you and can often make listening to that music simpler. We know that technology can often be a barrier to people using a playlist and that people living with dementia and unpaid carers often need some support finding the best solutions for them.
The Care Technologist project was introduced by Scottish Care in July 2022 and has been implemented across services and care homes in Glasgow, East Ayrshire and Aberdeen. Care Technologists have been visiting services and homes to get to know people accessing care and create digital care plans to help them live well.
Care Technologist Jenny supported Janet, who lives with dementia, to set up an Amazon echo dot and use Amazon Music.
“I am a 76-year-old woman, I lost partial sight at aged 12 due to a tumour and lost full sight when I was 18 due to glaucoma and I also have short term memory loss. Despite my vision loss I have worked hard all my life as a social worker.
I now live independently in a bungalow and have a good support team that care for me. I’d describe myself as generally happy, sociable and I like to enjoy the good things in life.
Since having an echo dot speaker installed in my house I have easy access to all different types of music, but my true love is Opera. Previously, I only had a radio and wasn’t able to pick and choose what music I could listen to. Having access to music hands free has now changed my life! It has helped improve my mood and wellbeing knowing music is available at any time of the day easily. When my Alexa stopped working during a storm, I was very sad, but the Care Technologist managed to set it back up quickly.
I also use the Alexa to get access to the time, weather and sometimes will play an interactive game on it. Having technology in my house is brilliant and I can’t express my thanks enough for the care tech service!”
-Janet
Jenny has also noticed the difference music device has made for Janet:
“As part of her care team, I have often arrived to hear her listening to Opera at full volume and I see how much joy she gets out of it. She panicked when a storm in 2022 disconnected her device and she voiced how devastated she felt.”
-Jenny
Jenny is hoping to create a playlist for Janet using Playlist for Life resources.
“I want to include songs or music that will evoke her memories of life in her younger years…I think she will love it!”
-Jenny
Find out more about the fantastic Care Technologist project and follow on Twitter, @CareTech_Scot.
You can find our tips and guidance on using technology to access your music on our Resources Page.
