St Hedwig Nursing Home baroque music

Older people with dementia sometimes display challenging behaviours like wandering, yelling, verbal and physical aggression. St Hedwig Nursing Home in Blacktown has discovered that the use of Baroque classical music can dramatically reduce such behaviour, leading to happier residents and happier staff.

St Hedwig Nursing Home has been awarded a Better Practice in Aged Care Award from the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency Ltd, for its program that uses baroque music to address challenging behaviours associated with dementia.

The Better Practice in Aged Care Awards have been developed by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency Ltd to recognise excellence and leadership among Australia’s aged care sector.

The Chief Executive Officer of The Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency, Mark Brandon, congratulated St Hedwig Nursing Home for its achievement.

“Homes must meet strict criteria and demonstrate that they have carried out an initiative that truly delivers benefits for residents in order to win a Better Practice Award,” Mr Brandon said.

“St Hedwig Nursing Home has been recognised as an industry leader for its behaviour management program using baroque music,” Mr Brandon said.

The Better Practice in Aged Care Award will be presented on Friday, 11th August at 2.30pm at the nursing home.

Ambient baroque music (late 17th to early 18th century) including Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Telemann was piped through the home’s internal PA system during the most troublesome time of the day, between 3 and 7pm.

“Monitoring revealed that in combination with other activities, the use of baroque music showed a decrease in aggressive episodes by more than 70 percent,” the home’s Director of Nursing Andrea Nguyen said.

“Our baroque music program has confirmed a therapeutic effect by improving the challenging behaviours in residents suffering from dementia,” Ms Nguyen said.

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PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
The home’s Better Practice Award will be presented on Friday, 11th August at 2.30pm in the first floor of St Hedwig Nursing Home, 140 Reservoir Road Blacktown. Please contact Director of Nursing Andrea Nguyen on 8822 9905 for more information or to arrange an interview.

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