They're carrying out trials in Alzheimer's patients and medical staff.
An NHS trust are carrying out trials to see if an algorithm can curate music playlists to reduce suffering in Alzheimer’s patients and stressed medical staff.
One of the tests was to prescribe songs based on a person's personal backgrounds and tastes.
It was trialed in people with dementia.
It found reductions in heart rate of up to 22%, while also lowering agitation and distress in some cases.
Lancashire teaching hospitals NHS trust has now extended trials to medical staff.
It focused on those involved in critical care during Covid-19.
It's aim is to see if it can ease anxiety and stress.
It also plans to test it on recovering critical care patients, needle-phobic children and outpatients coping with chronic pain.
Here's the process: the technology plays songs to patients while monitoring their heart rates as they listen.
The software is linked to a streaming service like Spotify.
An algorithm allows it to change upcoming tracks if the prescription doesn’t appear to be working.
It seems that thoughts of being in Galway really relaxed some people...
As this song was among the recommended tracks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9NM3SMRtaQ
It also assesses different aspects of music, including tempo and key.
Gary Jones, the chief executive of MediMusic, the company developing the software, said that these factors that can shape the heart rate and blood pressure response to a track.
They want to show the effectiveness of using music to manage chronic pain and on managing anxiety and depression in dementia patients.
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