When elderly members are ill, family members and friends can be key ingredients to their successful recuperation. Caregivers often seek opportunities to demonstrate love and caring, to eliminate stress, and provide a peaceful environment for their loved one. Focus becomes seeking ways to express love, listening for expressed needs, and intervening for patient comfort.

Controlling sound in a hospital or nursing home environment can be an important ingredient for peace, comfort, and harmony for both the recuperating elder and the caregiving family member. Sound therapy is a way of balancing sound waves and frequencies in the external environment with the internal waves and frequencies of the human body.

Intervention, Comfort, and Support--

Sounds can affect patients both emotionally and physically. Distractions because of extraneous noise can be a source of stress and diminish comfort, creating restlessness and discontent. Use of appropriate sound therapy tools and strategies can promote and rejuvenate brainwaves, thereby promoting relaxation and comfort.

Proper use of sound therapy such as soothing sound machines or soft music can help create positive mental balance and promote harmony to functions of internal body organs while assisting in encouraging better sleep. This creates a win-win situation for both the elderly and their caregivers.

Improving the home or hospital room environment through sound therapy—

Because our bodies are composed of a series of waves and frequencies, we respond to sound at different levels of comfort depending on the type of sounds. Sound therapy, therefore, can provide an enormous benefit to hospice patients and their families. In an environment in which a variety of physical and emotional situations can affect balance and harmony, introduction of sound therapy becomes a beneficial tool no matter the age of the patient or family member. In an atmosphere where lack of control of environmental interruptions is ever present, sound therapy allows both patient and family members to temporarily influence their responses and reduce stress.

Sound therapy can help eliminate mental causes of worry while easing physical tension, shock, and anger over situations that cannot be controlled. Specifically, sound therapy will:

• Reduces stress

• Relieves anxiety

• Encourages calm thinking

• Provides physical relaxation

• Encourages restful sleep

How Can You Provide Sound Therapy Balance?

It is important to monitor and adjust the room atmosphere. This can be accomplished using such instruments as soothing sound machines, relaxing music tapes, or reading favorite scripture verses or stories.

Avoid overuse of television. TV sounds can negatively affect the atmosphere in the room. Messages may also include loud noises and sounds from commercials or programs that can abruptly shock and traumatize body functions, creating mental discord.

Family members and friends, who are directly involved in elder care, can be a positive source of harmony and comfort by dealing with causes of physical and mental distress. These suggestions are also helpful to the caregiver who is an active participant in a "transitioning of life" process.