Dr Jennifer MacRitchie from the Department of Music at The University of Sheffield explores advanced musical technologies created specifically for people living with dementia.
The University of Sheffield hosts Pop-up University, an annual festival in the city to showcase pioneering research. Dr Jennifer MacRitchie from the Department of Music at The University of Sheffield presented a film on the exploration of advanced musical technologies created specifically for people living with dementia.
Dementia describes a set of symptoms including difficulties with memory, problem-solving, or language, that are severe enough that they interfere with doing everyday activities.
Research shows that frequent and sustained engagement with music can have a positive impact on older adults in general. For people living with dementia, activities such as listening to a favourite song, playing an instrument and singing can help to reconnect people with past interests and sometimes past memories, enhancing the quality of their day to day life.
Combining elements of music, psychology and engineering Dr Jennifer MacRitchie’s work explores assistive musical interfaces that help older adults engage with music. Working alongside a group of adults with a range of physical and cognitive abilities, her research team targeted the development of accessible musical interfaces by altering materials and mechanisms.
By making the musical devices easier and more engaging to use, her research is opening up the benefits of music for people living with dementia.
Music itself can be a powerful tool for people living with dementia.
Dr Jennifer MacRitchie
Senior Research Fellow from the Department of Music at the University of Sheffield
The Healthy Lifespan Institute brings together 140+ world-class researchers from a wide range of disciplines with the aim of tackling the global epidemic of multi-morbidity – the presence of two or more chronic conditions – in a bid to help everyone live healthier, independent lives for longer, and reduce the cost of care.