Collective generosity is making music therapy accessible

In 2019, the support of 350 donors to the University enabled the development of a mobile app prototype that gives more people living with dementia access to the benefits of music therapy in their everyday lives.

Inspiring support

Beyond having a practical impact on patients already, the initial version of the app also demonstrates growth potential and enabled Professor Baker’s team to pitch for further funding.

These pitches were successful, with the MATCH app attracting a $2 million grant from the federal government’s Medical Research Future Fund and endorsement from the World Health Organization (WHO).

“WHO are always about supporting those who can’t access quality care, so they see the potential for MATCH to be scaled up and be implemented in the global south,” said Professor Baker.

This momentum in support led to Google’s philanthropic arm granting a visionary $2 million to develop an AI-driven version of the app called MATCHPlus, complete with corresponding wearable technology.

This technology will detect the early physiological signs of distress that aren’t visibly recognisable well before they manifest as outward distressing behaviours, providing intervention in a timelier manner than ever before.

Professor Baker and her team are aiming to have a MATCHPlus prototype developed by mid-2025.

“For people with dementia, physiological signs such as increased heart rate or perspiration indicate that they are starting to get over aroused, stressed or confused – and that can lead to events like attempts to abscond or a fall,” said Professor Baker.

“The AI technology will learn what a person’s typical behaviour patterns are, as everybody’s own marker of agitation is different.”

_{Music can help calm a person with dementia when they are distressed, and provide meaningful opportunities to interact with others.}

Upon detecting distress, the wearable component will activate music that is based both on personal preference and the music’s meta-data – such as tempo, beats per minute, complexity and emotional valence.

This information will be matched to the person’s level of stress and agitation and assist in regulation within a short period of time.

“If someone doesn’t respond to a piece of music, the system will fade it out, and introduce something else until it finds what works. It begins to understand what musical parameters have the desired effect. In other words, the music is personalised.”

Google’s grant will also fund the development of MATCHPro – a program leveraging the technology of MATCHPlus that can be used in residential aged care settings to observe multiple people’s distress levels at once.

“Imagine a dashboard set up in the nurses’ station at a care home that could alert the staff to go and see Mrs Jones in room three because her physiological data indicates she is distressed and may benefit from some music,” said Professor Baker.

Relief without borders

Professor Baker’s vision is to make this technology broadly accessible.

“My driver is my wish to scale up this technology so that it can reach as many people as possible, irrespective of geographical location, socioeconomic status, language, or culture,” she said.

“I’d like to get it to places like Brazil, Indonesia, and India that have no funding for a music therapist to provide music interventions to support them.”

_{Professor Felicity Baker.}

The first steps towards this goal are in motion, with the app recently receiving a grant from The Shaw Foundation to develop its first language translation and culturally informed training videos for the Singaporean market.