Music provides positive environmental impact
Anyone who has ever walked the halls of a health care facility knows that it is not a quiet place. However, patients can find respite with music. That’s why Reno, NV-based Healing HealthCare Systems markets products and services that impact the environment. The company designs the auditory environment of the health care setting, explains Susan Mazer, MA, company president. "Music therapists treat patients, and what we do is treat the space in which patients are placed," she says.
Three products create a relaxing environment for the patients. They include:
• The C.A.R.E. (Continuous Ambient Relaxation Environment) Channel.
This 24-hour channel available on the closed-circuit TV system at hospitals combines music with relaxing scenes. Both the videos and the music are original, produced specifically for very sick patients. "Commercial nature videos move too fast, which doesn’t work well if patients are medicated and their eyesight is blurry. Our visual images move very slowly. We look at the television monitor as being a window outdoors to confined patients," says Mazer. The videos are also day- and night-sensitive, with a star field at night so the scenes aren’t out of context.
The music is designed to be cross-cultural and cross-generational. Nature sounds, when included in the music to enhance a scene, are used very sparsely.
• C.A.R.E. with Music.
This custom-designed music can be distributed throughout the health care system, providing a veil of protection between the patient and the environmental noise to promote relaxation.
• The Sondrex System.
This is a portable personal music delivery system for patients undergoing clinical procedures. This compact disc-based system has a small computer that acts as an interface, allowing the physician or nurse to talk directly to the patient through headphones. When the health care worker communicates with the patient, the music recedes behind the voice. When the communication is complete, the microphone is deactivated and the music increases in volume.
"The patient is insulated in a very seamless environment," says Mazer.
For more information on the products produced by Healing HealthCare Systems, contact: Healing HealthCare Systems, 100 W. Grove St., Suite 175, Reno, NV 89509. Telephone: (800) 348-0799 or (775) 827-0300. Fax: (775) 827-0304. E-mail: [email protected]. World Wide Web: www. healinghealth.com.
The C.A.R.E. Channel costs $150 to $175 a month for hospitalwide broadcast; the cost is based on the size of the hospital. C.A.R.E. with Music runs between $75 and $90 a month. The Sondrex System is $1700 per unit.
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