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The Who: This activity is for children and grandchildren or another other individual trying to connect with an older adult in their life.
The Need: This activity is addressing social isolation and loneliness in older adults by utilizing music to signify a connection of thoughts memories and experiences between the older adult and the facilitator.
The What: The facilitator will first show the older adult how to set up a playlist on their technological preference. The older adult will bring memorabilia, photos and trinkets that hold a meaningful value or memory, to ease their cognitive processing time and mental toll of thinking of their past. The older adult will utilize a dry erase map (Link in materials) and put down all of the places that they have traveled while sharing experiences looking at the map using the photos or memorabilia to spark their conversations. Every time there is overlap in shared traveled location, aspired travel location, similar memory or similar experience, (a connection between the facilitator and the older adult) a song is added to the playlist that is representative of that connection using the older adult’s song preferences, music preferences can be shared and combined or agreed upon, if an agreement can’t be reached both songs are put on the playlist to symbolize the connection.
The Music: Music plays a crucial role in being the connection between the older adult and younger member, and their shared experiences, travels or aspired travels.
UDL: This activity is geared towards highlighting patterns and similarities between older and younger generations to develop more of a sense of understanding for one another (3.2) and to foster a collaboration between older adult community members and younger generations (8.3).
SEL: Though it is not a school, the concept of authentic partnership still applies in this activity between older adult and facilitator, as they are trying to see how alike their experiences and aspirations are.
How to facilitate this activity:
1) Sit down at a table and make the screen where the playlist is being made accessible to be seen by both the Older Adult & facilitator.
2) Click this link https://open.spotify.com
3) Select the Hamburger in the top left corner (Three lines stacked on top of each other)
4) If you do not have an account, select “Sign Up”. If you do skip ahead to step 5.
a. If you select “Sign Up” provide a valid email address
b. Next create a password
c. Lastly create a username
d. After you see the message that indicates completion, refresh the page and repeat step 3.
5) Select Login.
6) Type in your username (or email) and password associated with your account
7) Select the “Bookstack” icon at the bottom of the screen, with the word My Library, if you are on mobile or a TV. If you are on a computer it will apperar on the left hand side of your screen.
8) Click on the “Plus” symbol (+)
9) Select “Playlist”
10) Name your playlist “______’s connection playlist” and then select “Create”
11) Click “Add to this Playlist”
12) Select the Search bar
13) When you have found the specific version of the song click “add” on the righthand side of the song.
14) When facilitating, keep this in mind, conversations should be about 70 - 75% older adult sharing and 25% - 30% facilitator sharing. Conversations should take the weight off of the older adult thinking all the time with the goal of building connections and finding similarities behind their lives.
15) Any memorabilia the older adult would like to share as a conversation starter is welcome. As a facilitator as active questions like:
a. “What was that trip like?”
b. “Why have you always wanted to go to ____?”
c. “Why is this _____ meaningful to you?”
d. "What would you like someone else to know by looking at this photo or trinket?"
e. "What was memorable about this experience?"
f. "What would you like your family and friends to know about this experience?"
g. "Who were the people in this photo? What would you want to share with them?"
16) If the older adult does not have memorabilia or is struggling with coming up with the places they have been then use the dry erase map to have them put dots on the places they have lived or aspire/aspired to travel to.
17) After the experience has been shared the facilitator will reflect on whether or not they have had a similar experience, traveled to a similar place or aspire to do a similar thing.
18) If after reflection they realize that they have had a similarity, then starting with the older adult they share a musical association of said memory. If the songs match, then put the song into the playlist.
a. If it is a shared memory or experience, as this activity is intended to be done with family members, then add the song that both parties agree most strongly tie to the memory. If a song is not easily agreed upon then both parties get to add a song to the playlist.
b. If it is not a shared memory or experience then both parties will share their thoughts on whatever the memory, experience or travel location was and share their musical associations. Again, one song should be added to symbolize the experience. However, if a song is not easily agreed upon then both parties get to add a song to the playlist.
19) Reflect on the song choices by asking questions like:
a. Why do you think of ____ when you listen to this song?
b. Who do you think of when you listen to this song?
c. What's one thing you could you tell others who haven't seen this photo/memorabilia/map to help them understand?
d. How does the song help this memory make sense?
e. How does this song relate to me (facilitator)?
20) Continue this process of sharing and making connections for about 30 to 45 minutes, the facilitator shouldn’t make it too long as the cognitive process of uncovering memories can be taxing for an older adult regardless of a diagnosis or not.
21) Remember that the goal is to find experiences that relate to one another.
22) Reflect on the playlist after completion!
23) Make sure the older adult has a copy of the playlist either by emailing them, texting them or any other electronic means.
a. If email or text are not options, the individual facilitating could burn a CD from the Spotify playlist. All they would need is one apple device, a CD and a computer equipped with a CD burner.
b. A 2nd Alternative is, there are online web sources that you can send music to and they will create a custom CD for $16 (https://intheclouds.io/products/custom-cds) (Not Sponsored)
The Materials:
Dry Erase Map - Though it is not 3D tactile, it is a much cheaper and more accessible alternative for $12 on amazon. Can also be purchased at a local Barns & Noble for a similar price.
Laptop, TV, Phone – any electronic device with access to streaming
Any memorabilia the Older Adult is comfortable sharing including but not limited to: Photos, Trinkets, etc.
Crossing Paths
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