THE BYRON BAY and Bangalow aged care facilities run by Feros Care have recently introduced weekly silent discos — where music is played through wireless headphones instead of a loudspeaker system.
Silent discos, popular at music festivals and clubs geared towards Generation Y, have found a new posse of fans in aged-care centres across Australia.
Positive living co-ordinator Jennie Hewitt said the combination of music and dance was proving to have therapeutic benefits, particularly with dementia sufferers.
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“One of the residents came along to the disco and he was in his wheelchair and he was quite withdrawn, he had his eyes closed and his head down, but as we put the headphones on, he started to tap his foot, and then he opened his eyes and looked around and in the end he was kicking his legs to New York New York,” she said.
“When the class finished he gave an enormous round of applause and promptly stood up out of his wheelchair because he’d forgotten he couldn’t walk and he walked back to his room.
“It was mind-blowing.”
Silent disco company discoDtours last year introduced a program called Moove and Groove for seniors in aged care facilities throughout Sydney, and is also conducting research into the benefits for dementia sufferers.
The company was awarded a New South Wales Government grant to develop the program in collaboration with a music therapist and exercise physiologist.
Story by Samantha Turnbull, ABC News.