There are many ways to use SingFit during speech, occupational, or physical therapy sessions that will enhance your therapeutic relationship and maximize rehabilitation outcomes with your clients. As the clinician, your experience is the best guide on how to integrate tools into your session, but, as with any new tool, there may be many ways to use SingFit that you hadn’t considered yet!
Here are four ways to use SingFit that are sure to spark your clinical brain on how best to incorporate SingFit for every individual you see.
Use SingFit in the beginning of the therapeutic session to engage your client.
SingFit STUDIO Pro was designed to be easily integrated into your rehabilitation sessions. Using our evidence-based music technology for the first 5-15 minutes of the therapy session offers patient engagement with the therapist from the start. SingFit promotes trust and rapport and can help in gaining patient history by opening communication for working together on the therapeutic strategies best suited for that patient. SingFit inspires reminiscence and the sharing of favorite music, as well as other interests and hobbies so that you can easily converse with the client about their preferences. Introducing the therapeutic session with SingFit also serves to ease any existing tension and thereby amplify rehabilitation outcomes.
Additionally, using SingFit is a great cognitive and speech warm up that supports speech and hearing therapy for cognitive-communication disorders. SingFit supports preparation for meaningful engagement in therapeutic activity by giving the client an opportunity to connect to you through sharing an experience associated with a particular song.
Use SingFit as a facilitating tool.
SingFit promotes vocalization, phonation, and appropriate volume as well as word production, and opportunities for narrative speech. When therapeutic goals include intonation, breath support, and attention, the act of participating together with SingFit technology can serve as a therapeutic tool. Reminiscence and sharing conversation often result following a SingFit interaction. SingFit uses familiar music which prompts episodic memories from their youth. This creates opportunities for clients to practice using receptive and expressive language, narrative speech, and word recall, further supporting reciprocal conversation. Additionally,
singing can support learning vocal control,
phonation, and volume.
SingFit can also be a tool to encourage engagement and attention at any point during the session. If you feel that your client is getting tired or distracted, SingFit might be just the tool to get their attention, while simultaneously exercising speech mechanisms. Many speech language pathologists and occupational therapists report that their clients get so excited to hear their favorite song that they start conversing easily as they share memories of dancing to Elvis at their high school prom.
Utilize SingFit STUDIO Pro for 5-10 minutes at the end of the session to promote wellbeing.
Many participants have expressed joy in participating in SingFit sessions with therapists, and as such SingFit can serve as a way to support emotional well-being and serve as a positive ending to the session. Leaving the client on a high note will make them excited for their next therapy session!
Using SingFit Pro at the end of the session can also help improve carryover of therapeutic outcomes into functional activities such as breath support, vocal loudness, and narrative speech.
Prescribe SingFit homework.
SingFit STUDIO Caregiver can be prescribed to clients in order to aid with carryover of skills learned in therapy, as using SingFit at home can promote and support emotional health for your clients and their families. SingFit STUDIO Caregiver stimulates conversation by supporting reminiscence and long term memories. Both are a beneficial way to maintain speech skills and bring a sense of purpose to those with dementia. SingFit can also promote engagement with daily activities by initiating reminiscence and bringing back a sense of self.
Singing is a beneficial cognitive exercise that engages the brain globally and can be used to encourage neuroplasticity. And, for those with aphasia or Parkinson’s, using SingFit at home provides opportunities to practice breath support, vocal loudness, and speech.
Many caregivers also report that using SingFit Caregiver has improved their relationship by facilitating bonding. SingFit can improve caregivers’ ability to communicate with their loved one with dementia, by providing a reminiscence tool where music drives the conversation by promoting easy memory sharing. Families are delighted to see the change in affect and posture that can happen when their loved one starts singing a familiar song.
Look out for our next article coming on December 8th on how to easily assign SingFit Caregiver as homework.
What experiences have you had with using SingFit? Email them to chelsea@singfit.com for a chance to be featured in our next blog post. We’d love to read about your experiences, see photos, or get feedback on your favorite ways to incorporate SingFit into your sessions.
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