Friedrichshafen Hospice Liebenau Foundation

Listen to your own music

The surface of the music walls is discreetly designed. Graphic elements printed in reddish natural tone on a light background suggest large leaves. Behind the two-meter-wide and 1.80-meter-high so-called medical supply unit Schyns Q100, not only a speaker is installed, but also the connections for medical devices are inconspicuously concealed here. Silke Uhl, the director of Hospice Friedrichshafen, shows how you can listen to your own music with your mobile phone. You need a Bluetooth connection through which you control the app belonging to the unit. After the connection is established, her music already sounds – very quietly. The volume can be adjusted with the mobile phone.

Music: a piece of quality of life

For many people, music generally means a piece of quality of life. Its positive effect is not infrequently used for therapeutic purposes. Those who have been accustomed to listening to music throughout their lives will probably appreciate this habit even during serious illness. In palliative medicine, the care of seriously ill or dying people, music can have many positive effects according to various surveys, from general well-being to relaxation to pain or anxiety reduction. The music walls help that individual music style can be heard in high quality in one's own room. Of course, the system is also suitable for audiobooks. "These have a particularly calming effect on some patients in the final phase of life," according to Silke Uhl's first experiences.

Patients should feel comfortable

An important point is that other hospice guests remain undisturbed. "While the music can only be heard quietly in the room, the patient in bed perceives the music of the body sound transducer intensively," explains Manuel Reitz from Schyns company. The supply unit itself becomes a sound body, comparable to an acoustic instrument. "It is a matter of the heart for us to support the hospice at the Franziskus Center," he says about the company's support, which donated the sound system. Patients should feel comfortable on their final journey with exquisite music and a homely environment.

Information

The Inpatient Hospice at the Franziskus Center in Friedrichshafen has ten private rooms for seriously ill or dying people. After the renovation, the rooms as well as the communally used rooms present themselves appealingly and brightly. Each room has a sofa bed where relatives can spend the night. The hospice is open to them at all times. The catchment area for patients extends over the entire southern region of Baden-Württemberg. With appropriate diagnosis, young adults as well as the very elderly find a place here. The length of stay varies greatly, but is on average 20 days. Silke Uhl describes that the condition of patients improves temporarily during their stay due to the time given, the empathy and trust of the staff.

Text/Photo: Liebenau Foundation/Anne Oschwald