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Georgia Health Care Association Launches Music Integration Program for Seniors
The Georgia Health Care Association (GHCA), is excited to announce the launch of a Music Integration Program for Seniors benefitting residents in skilled nursing centers across Georgia. GHCA has partnered with the Music & Memorysm Organization and other key stakeholders to develop the program, which encourages the involvement of family, community and staff to integrate personalized music into resident activities and caregiving.
Key program components include education to assist caregivers and family members to understand the effects of Alzheimer's and other types of Dementia and the potential benefits of personalized music as an integral part of resident's plan of care; certification in Music & Memorysm; training, equipment and technical support to implement the Music & Memory sm program; and instruments and speakers to integrate music into activities and bathing.
Made possible through a grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) funded by the civil monetary penalty fund, the Music Integration Program for Seniors will initially be available to 150 skilled nursing centers with no exclusion criteria.
Pam Clayton, GHCA's VP of Quality Advancement & Regulatory Affairs expressed sincere appreciation to CMS for the grant award.
“It is both humbling and gratifying to assist those struggling with the effects of Dementia or Alzheimer's to maintain their personhood and to connect them with their past and present in a personal and meaningful way,” said Clayton. “This is exactly what the Music Integration Program aims to do.”
Integrating personalized music into a resident's plan of care has been proven to improve mood, enhance engagement and socialization, heighten the resident's ability to communicate, increase calmness, and decrease agitation. These positive effects lead to reduced antipsychotic, anxiolytic and antidepressant use; fewer falls and less resistance to care; greater staff efficiencies and reduced cost; increased participation in therapy applications; and, more meaningful interactions.
About GHCA/GCAL:
The Georgia Health Care Association/Georgia Center for Assisted Living is a non-profit association of skilled nursing facilities, assisted living centers, and home and community based case managers called SOURCE. Advocates for Georgia's elderly since 1953, the association represents 95% of skilled nursing care facilities in Georgia and represents the best interests of patients, residents and consumers as well as owners, administrators, and other personnel. The GHCA strives to enhance the ability of its members to provide competent and compassionate care to meet the ever changing health care needs of Georgia's infirm, elderly and disabled citizens. For more information, visit www.ghca.info.
About the Music & Memorysm Organization:
Music & Memorysm is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life. The organization trains nursing home staff and other elder care professionals, as well as family caregivers, to create and provide personalized playlists using iPods and related digital audio systems that enable those struggling with Alzheimer's, dementia and other cognitive and physical challenges to reconnect with the world through music-triggered memories. By providing access and education, and by creating a network of Music & Memorysm Certified organizations, the organization aims to make this form of personalized therapeutic music a standard of care throughout the health care industry. For more information, visit www.musicandmemory.org.
