The SOUND methodology is something new, which is inspired to the Circlesinging (a singing form, where a group of singers, placed in a circle, “pass around” a basic sound or tune and make improvisation, created by Bobby Mcferrin in the USA) and Circleactivities – a set of creative and music-oriented activities carried out in circle.

The methodology of Circlesinging was first used in Italy by Albert Hera, a musician from Turin, in the educational field, targeting musicians and music professionals. Its use has been extended to different worlds also distant from the artistic-musical one, e.g. in team building projects and in caring environments.
Underlying these forays outside the confines of the artistic world is the strong conviction that art can be a powerful medium in the service of wellbeing and thus of care and caring, whether in groups or organisations, or in people suffering from degenerative diseases such as dementia.

The first experiment of applying the Circleactivities technique with people suffering from dementia was made in 2018 involving users, their families and the operators of the team of the Alzheimer Day Centre of the APSP of Trento. The results were extraordinary: the people involved felt joy, laughed, were moved, and recognised themselves in a relationship of equality, outside the asymmetry implicit in the patient-caregiver relationship. The artistic approach opened up alternative communication and relationship channels respect the usual ones. Therefore the Circleactivities methodology has already provided some evidence of effectiveness on care professionals and older people.

What SOUND Project will add to the previous experience is:

    • a rigorous monitoring of the outcomes;
    • an international dimension;
    • a personal interpretation of the activities based on the peculiarities of the organisations involved in the study such as for example the use of the piano, of the guitar and different instruments within the circle;
    • the inclusion of the informal caregivers;
    • the engagement of young people from an intergenerational perspective.