Twilight Aged Care Works With Moove & Groove To Deliver Positive Ageing Experiences

There are many different capabilities (physical and cognitive), cultural backgrounds and interests among residents of aged care facilities. However, the traditional offerings of lifestyle programs do not cater for this diversity, leaving individuals with little choice. In the age of consumer-centred care, this is less than ideal, and is something that Moove and Groove, with the help of Twilight Aged Care, wanted to address.

Moove and Groove dance and exercise program

Moove and Groove developed an innovative dance and exercise program for seniors using silent disco technology. This program is currently (as at July 2019) operating in 18 facilities with over 750 participants in classes each month. Most participants are aged over 70 and many have some form of cognitive decline. Music playlists are developed to suit individual groups and also based on specific music requests.

Moove and Groove also partnered with three facilities to launch an innovative audio listening program. At the Glades Bay Twilight village they provide a moove and groove class and run the listening program with a group of residents, which have now become a permanent and much anticipated part of their weekly program.

Moove and Groove listening program

Move and Groove also developed a listening program using wireless headphone technology combined with carefully curated audio content (podcasts/YouTube), which offers a lot of choice and enables residents to listen to this content together or individually.

The listening program gives another option to those who may not want to do the lifestyle activity on offer (such as bingo), allowing them to instead select a podcast to listen to from the Moove and Grove collection that interests them (this can be either in a common room or their own room). It also allows for customised listening outside scheduled activity hours at any time of the day based on their choice.

Connections between residents, staff and families are created after the listening activities, with conversations sparked and residents engaged in a new way. There are benefits for mental and emotional wellbeing, and potentially for people with cognitive decline. There is a dementia trial to various forms of music and listening to manage behaviours.

Reinterpreting the concept of ageing

Both concepts are a world first, with the team presenting the dance and exercise concept at Aging 2.0 in San Francisco in November 2018. The programs are under continuous improvement, and interest continues to grow.

Moove and Groove and Twilight Aged Care say they have reinterpreted the concept of ageing in so far as they believe that ageing should be a positive experience. The Moove and Groove programs are designed for people to be engaging mentally and physically in a fun and innovative way.

There is no reason why you cannot listen to a TEDx talk or dance to YMCA when you are 75! The great news is seniors are proving this to be the case in their programs. Engagement in this way generates physical and mental health outcomes. Both programs also foster connections in a unique way, which are even more important as we see greater levels of loneliness and social isolation in our senior communities.

More information

For more information please visit www.mooveandgroove.com.au