Last Updated on April 11, 2022
One of the best ways to foster healthy aging is to pursue creative expression. The opportunities to get engaged in the arts are not just reserved for those “right brained” individuals who are natural-born painters. While drawing and sculpting are great activities, we can also get creative while cooking, inventing, sewing, dancing, crafting, taking photos, and playing an instrument. No matter what form of the arts suits you best, one easy way to improve overall health and wellbeing is just to listen to music.
A recent study by Johns Hopkins Medicine revealed a connection between listening to music and mental health.
Impact of Listening to Music on Overall Health
- Reduce anxiety
- Reduce blood pressure
- Improve sleep quality
- Improve overall mood
- Increase mental alertness
- Improve memory
“If you want to keep your brain engaged throughout the aging process, listening to or playing music is a great tool. It provides a total brain workout,” one Johns Hopkins doctor noted.
A Music App Designed by Seniors, for Seniors
Each year, the music industry adapts as artists try to reach a larger audience and grow their platform. This has resulted in a crowded (and sometimes overwhelming) marketplace to find the songs that best suit your taste.
If you’re looking for a streamlined, easy-to-use product that was designed by seniors to make it easy for older adults to get online, have video calls with family, and listen to music, try GrandPad.
They’ve created a tablet that with the push of a single button will play a curated playlist of your favorite genre of music. They have over 30 million songs, all free of ads, with large buttons to easily navigate through songs and help you create your own unique “music collection”. Plus, there’s a radio app with clear visuals to help you find your favorite music, talk or sports stations. It’s a feature that they are proud to say can improve your physical, cognitive and psychological health.
Clarinetist Mom Needed an Easy Way to Listen to Classical Music
Each week, the team at GrandPad addresses the questions and concerns of their users to ensure their product is helping seniors stay connected to their loved ones in an easy-to-use way. In a recent “Live Grand!” Q&A , they showed off how enjoyable their music app is for older adults.
Dear Live Grand: Even though my mom spent her working life as a banker her heart’s always been in music. She was so devoted that she was first clarinet in our local symphony for a couple of years. In my effort to help her find some joy in her current life I made her a playlist of classical pieces but she’s having problems using the player. I’m hoping to find a device that she’s confident using even with her mild memory challenges. The ability to listen to podcasts or watch videos about music and musicians would be a bonus. We understand that the GrandPad includes games which is nice since she likes crosswords but it’s music that she craves. Would a GrandPad be a good fit for her? – TK
Dear TK: We love seeing adult children researching ways to enrich their older adults’ lives! You’ve come to the right place. The GrandPad offers so many features that we’re certain once you saw all that’s incorporated into the tablet, you’d feel rewarded for your efforts.
The best news for your mom is that within the Music app there’s a classical music option just waiting for her. If she’d like to build her own Music Collection, all she’d need to do is touch Add to Collection when she heard a piece she liked, and it would be saved to her list.
The Radio app could provide another source for the music she enjoys. There’s a pre-set for classical already there and if she already has favorite radio stations those could be added by the family admin.
Her safe Internet app would allow her to search for podcasts and articles about music and musicians from several sources starting with the Growing Bolder pre-set. She could also enjoy easy access to YouTube which would enable her to access videos of concerts available there.
You mentioned that she likes crosswords and yes, crosswords are an option within the Games app. She might grow to enjoy word search and word scramble, as well. She could play solitaire and bridge or challenge herself with memory games. We’re thinking that she’d like setting some classical music in the background while she plays games, and she could make that happen just by touching the Play Music in Background button.
Of course, it’s basic to owning a GrandPad that people can easily access video/audio calls with their friends and family. By using her Photos app your mom could view both photos and videos. We love this feature because when the family records current videos of their activities those could be uploaded to your mom’s GrandPad. This simple step would help keep her involved in family life.
If your family enjoys Zoom gatherings your mom could join in by using the integrated Zoom feature on the GrandPad.
The GrandPad tablet has many integrated features that could appeal to your mom, TK. We’re certain that you’d see her not only finding joy through the music she loves but through expanding her interests.
Get Connected
Whether you are an older adult looking for an easier way to stay in touch with your family across the country, or a younger adult who wants to get closer with a parent or grandparent, GrandPad is an easy solution to a growing tech problem.
As more products become overly complicated, their tablet is streamlined to provide an easy answer for video calls, phone calls, internet searching, games, listening to music and more. To learn more, go to GrandPad.net
This article was created in partnership with our friends at GrandPad
