Imagine being able to bring a bit of joy into the life of someone living with dementia. That is what the Joyphone Community Project has been created to do. Conceived and project managed by Nico Nanninga and together with volunteer builders that are helping, the team is now working to realise the first few working JoyPhones.

 

The JoyPhone is a little box with simple electronics that can be connected to any old Singapore rotary telephone. Based on a person's music style preferences and songs from their childhood, specific tunes can be loaded onto the small box. The JoyPhone operations is really simple for caregivers to operate. Upon dialing a number on the telephone, a familiar tune will be heard. First experiments showed that people are usually a bit quiet at first until they recognise the tune and then they will sing along or tap their feet and smile. The power of music is thought to lie in its ability to tap into long-term memory, which is often spared in people with dementia. The classic rotary telephone is also familiar technology that many older generations still recognise.

 

A resident of Potong Pasir, Nico has been calling Singapore home since 2009. "My neighborhood is a designated Silver Zone, making it a safe area for the aging population to move around safely," he says. "While many elderly folks can go about their business, I'm acutely aware that there are many people living with dementia staying at home and feeling lonely and isolated. It's become my mission to do my part and support caregivers by helping to bring the community together to raise awareness of dementia and spark some joy!"

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He continues: "I have seen the impacts of dementia up-close with my grandparents. Living in the heartland also helped me better understand the challenges of growing older in Singapore, including dementia. I've educated myself by following courses and joined seminars organised by Dementia Singapore. I started an Instagram project last year, called Reframing Dementia. It aims to bring together stories from Singapore and around the world how caring communities are finding creative ways to take care of their loved ones living with dementia. The JoyPhone idea was born from that."

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The JoyPhone Community Project aims to help caregivers and elderly people with dementia to connect through the power music via a familiar vintage telephone. Nico comments: "While we are building the first prototypes, we are keeping the electronics parts simple so schools and hobbyists can join in and help build JoyPhones. That's how we plan to rapidly expand and bring joy to all elderly folks in Singapore living with dementia. We're even planning to organise hackathons to not only reproduce JoyPhones, but improve on the idea."

 

The science behind the JoyPhone is music therapy which is a form of reminiscence therapy used a lot in dementia care. Research has shown that music improves mood, reduce anxiety and agitation, and increases social interactions.

 

Drawing inspiration from a concept by fellow Dutchmen Leo Willems, Nico has purposely created his enriched rendition called the JoyPhone. He says: "It is important to me that JoyPhone is created specifically for all Singaporeans reflecting its multicultural and multiracial background."

 

"It doesn't need to stop there with musical features", he says. "There are many more use cases for the JoyPhone. One can load stories or messages from loved ones for example. We are already working on functionality where the JoyPhone will act as a reminder to ring at preset timings. And imagine being able to send text messages to your grandparents that are being read out on the JoyPhone. The possibilities are endless".

 

Please get in touch if you want to help the make the JoyPhone Community Project a success. Please go to the Get Involved section to learn more about our project and leave your contact details if you can help.