Living Lonely: Seniors in search of a song

A neuropsychologist and opera singer teamed up to create a form of vocal training for people on the autism spectrum.

A Boston suburb combined its high school and senior center to create a hub for the community. The result has saved space and forged interesting friendships.

More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s or similar illnesses, and that number is growing as the population ages - without any immediate prospect of a cure, advocacy groups have begun promoting ways to offer people with dementia a comfortable decline instead of imposing on them a medical model of care, which seeks to defer death through escalating interventions. An Arizona nursing home offers new ways to care for people with dementia.

Not all seniors need the various discounts they receive. The Boomerang Giving project allows them to donate back the difference of the discounts on things like movie tickets to a charity of their choice, benefiting not only a community cause but also their own mental and physical health. Various services also assist them in selecting and investing wisely in different nonprofits.

Little Kids Rock has helped to revitalize and broaden music education in more than a thousand schools by encouraging children to learn to play popular music, form bands and compose their own songs. Despite a backlash from traditionalists, teaching children to play music they love doesn’t “dumb down” music education—it enriches it.

Cities tend to be dangerous and difficult places to live for older residents. A private public partnership in New York is catering to seniors through small changes in the city such as para-transit options and seniors-only hours at public establishments.

As popular music has become digital and immaterial in the twenty-first century, record stores are hard to find and those in business struggle to be commercially viable. Used Kids record store in Columbus, OH has been in business for thirty years and is perhaps even more popular now that it was ten years ago. The current management treat the medium of vinyl not as a museum artifact, but rather as a commodity in demand by selling online, holding private events with collectors, and selling the materiality to young people.

Living alone can be tough for seniors, for those without family nearby to check on them no one will know if they suffer a medical emergency. Hundreds of suburban and rural police agencies in the US are offering seniors a free automated phone call every day which they will follow up with a house visit if not answered.

Some inner city schools, nonprofits, and businesses in New York lack the staff to make their organizations function for the people they serve. ReServe is a program that links retired professionals with part-time jobs in schools, libraries, hospitals and other city agencies to help fil this gap.

Why do schools teach music in a way that turns off so many young people rather than igniting their imagination? A program that taps into students’ passion for pop and rock is revitalizing music education in many schools.