AcustiCare 2.0 Soundscapes in care for people with dementia

There are more and more people with dementia, a small proportion of whom live in residential care centres. Dementia is accompanied by cognitive and functional decline, but more than 80% of them show behavioral and psychological problems during the course of the disease. These are usually attributed to the disease itself, but the environment can also play a decisive role in the development, maintenance or aggravation of it.

In this study, the influence of sound on these behavioral and psychological problems was investigated, then acoustic improvements were made in the residential care centers and finally whether soundscapes had an effect on the behavioral and psychological problems. These soundscapes came about through co-creation with residents, family and employees and were evaluated in five living labs. Five residential care centers showed themselves willing to be a test environment. In addition to the residential care centers, the user group also consists of 13 companies.

We also looked at whether the acoustic improvements had an impact on employees, based on the idea that happier (less stressful) employees have a positive effect on residents.

So we looked for ways to support the care of elderly people with dementia and behavioral and psychological problems and we succeeded. The acoustic improvements have not missed their effect and the soundscapes, provided they are tailor-made for the resident, can be used for the intended result.

Acusti2Care 2.0 

After AcustiCare was enthusiastically received in the participating residential care centers, a follow-up project was launched. In AcustiCare 2.0 we focus on individualizing soundscapes for residents with dementia in residential care centers. We want to develop an operational and dynamic system that offers soundscapes to support healthcare.

As in the previous project, the end users were closely involved in the development of AcustiCare.

In the first part of the study, a market study was carried out among bedside care providers in residential care centres. In 21 interviews, questions were asked about how people currently deal with behavioral problems in residential care, what attention is currently being paid to the sound environment in residential care, what openness there is towards the use of 'soundscapes' in residential care, how these should be shaped, what they should be able to do and what should certainly not be possible. Both the use and the hardware and software were discussed. Following this market study, the willingness to pay was also questioned via an online survey that was sent to all WZC in Flanders.

The knowledge gathered in this first part was further developed. In a second part of the study, the developed prototype was tested in six living labs spread across Flanders. The system was therefore placed and tested in residential care with residents with dementia. The participating living labs were residential care home Uilenspiegel (Genk), residential care home Kapelleveld (Ternat), residential care home Hof de Beuken (Ekeren), residential care home De Vliedberg (Brugge), residential care home Sint-Mathildis (Boechout) and WZC Onderdale (Ursel). At the moment, July 2021, all living labs have been completed and all data is being analysed. We are pleased to report that the initial results are positive and look forward to presenting our final results.