Dementia Spring Dialogues

The episode begins with Andy and Rachel sharing some of their background experience in music and business. Andy is a music therapist, who began his trajectory in college when he played music for a friend recovering from an injury. It was at the hospital, where he was introduced to the music therapist on staff, and that experience inspired him to become a board-certified music therapist. Rachel’s background is more in technology, assisting companies who previously had a brick and mortar process and help them scale their businesses digitally.

Dr. Marc asks Andy to explain the science behind therapeutic music singing, and the difference between passively listening to music and actively making it. In the passive music experience, the brain lights up in a receptive way. When you’re making the music, it’s not just the receptive parts of the brain reacting, but globally, the brain is engaged. When you’re singing your thought patterns in the brain are being organized, and releases good chemicals, like serotonin to the brain. It’s this science that informs their SingFit technology. The heart of their company is in their app that hosts hundreds of songs. They also have SingFit Prime, a music therapy solution for groups that can be implemented with no prior musical experience. Now, SingFit is at over five-hundred senior living facilities. 

As the episode ends, Dr. Marc asks them to identify some of the challenges they faced when they began SingFit. For Rachel, it was licensing the music, while Andy struggled to conceptualize to teach folks without a music background to utilize music therapies. Both Rachel and Andy also share some of their favorite SingFit success stories as well as exploring where they would like to see the company move in the future. This includes everything from scientific studies to international partnerships. 

Links: 

Learn more about Rachel and Andy

Learn more about SingFit

Learn more about Dementia Spring. You can find information about Dr. Marc and the Dementia Spring Dialogues podcast, and don’t forget to sign up for the Dementia Spring newsletter!

This inaugural episode of the Dementia Spring Dialogues podcast introduces listeners to the show, which features conversations with physicians, scientists, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders about innovations in aging, dementia, and caregiving.  In this episode, host Dr. Marc is joined by guest Todd Smith to discuss the digital divide older adults often face, how to design technology with older adults in mind, and the ongoing challenges of isolation and loneliness during the COVID-19 era.  Todd is the founder and CEO of myFamilyChannel, and before becoming a tech entrepreneur, he was the Director of Communications for Signature Healthcare in Louisville, KY.  He is a self-described artist-entrepreneur, and even ran his own record label, Label X, in the 2000s as an outworking of his passion for music and music production.

Dr. Marc first asks Todd about how he came into his current line of work trying to find solutions to the related challenges of the digital divide and the isolation faced by older adults living in care facilities.  When he worked for Signature Healthcare, Todd visited care facilities and observed the gap in connectivity that amplified issues like loneliness and boredom, which can in turn be linked to poor health outcomes.  He also observed the digital divide that impacted the residents, and thought that, as a tech and communications guy, he could surely do something about the whole situation.  Todd recounts how he initially underestimated how wide the digital divide was, and how he made it his mission to break down the wall, so to speak, and allow enjoyment of technology among analog natives by designing a platform intuitive to them.

This intuitive system took form in myFamilyChannel, which allows older adults to do several things, most notably communicating with family members and even the staff of their residential facilities, using a television screen.  Todd uses his technology to challenge the ageist beliefs many older adults have embraced that claim technology is not for them.  He has seen many older adults connect with 3-4 family members, and some with many more than this.  He has also seen facility staff use the technology in creative ways to combat isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Moving forward, Todd hopes to work more on the issue of technological accessibility for those older adults with cognitive impairment.      

Links:

Learn more about Todd Smith.

Learn more about myFamilyChannel.

Learn more about Signature Healthcare.

Learn more about Todd’s old music label, Label X.

Learn more about Dementia Spring.  You can find information about Dr. Marc and the Dementia Spring Dialogues podcast, and don’t forget to sign up for the Dementia Spring newsletter!

The contents and information on DementiaSpring.Org are for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.  Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Any opinions expressed about, or endorsements of persons, services or organizations are solely those of Dementia Spring and are not made on behalf of Signify Healthcare or any other entity.