I wonder if anyone out there who works in nursing homes has ever heard of, or uses, the IN2L system. Ours has had it for at least the year I’ve been working on their staff. The IN2L (stands for It’s Never 2/Too Late) is a computer system (pardon my lack of technological language) that provides a number of programs, if you will, that are supposed to be interactive and can be shared with groups or individuals. The touch screen allows for some easy use by a resident.
I don’t find the system particularly useful, and the times I’ve tried to work with it, it hasn’t exactly provided what it says it will, but that’s another story.
The reason I bring it up is because my fellow music therapist/palliative care unit coordinator brought it into our office and said that with the system’s last update, there was installed a “music therapy” program. Hm. She said that the program’s title was “Music Therapy,” and that, when opened, it provided a large number of song selections from different genres of music. This is very nice, and seems to be a step up from the music offerings the system had before, but, I question why they call it “Music Therapy.” A better title could be “Music As Therapy,” or simply, “Music,” but not “Music Therapy.” Unless, of course, a music therapist is using those programs with a resident, and having that supplement the therapeutic process.
I’ll have to do more investigating of it.