SOUND, ENVIRONMENT AND AGEING: BRINGING THE OUTSIDE INTO CARE HOMES

The research is being carried out with charities that work with older people, to make soundtracks of natural sounds that are then shared with people living in care homes.

The project aims to evaluate what the impact of taking these outside sounds into care homes might be on the older people living in such institutional settings.

Sounds recorded with the project team of birdsong, sea, rivers, forest walks for example, will be played through special headsets that offer the listener an immersive listening experience that takes them out of the care home, and into the natural world.

We estimate, based on previous projects, that there will be affective responses to these sounds that can impact on wellbeing and in consultation with care home workers, older people not living in care homes and care home residents. The potential future applications would be most likely to be an app for use in care home settings.