A new musical activity is making waves for inpatients at PA Hospital’s Addiction and Mental Health Services unit, but you wouldn’t hear about it.
That’s because the songs can only be heard by those wearing the special headphones, meaning consumers can dance like no one is watching and express themselves in a unique way.
The silent disco activity has recently been introduced which Recreational Officer Adam Le Flay says has proven to be a big hit.
“We have 10 heads sets which play two channels on them so consumers can tune into different channels. Often people will look at each other, realise they’re dancing to different songs and get a bit of a laugh out of it.
“The consumers even selected the songs themselves because I didn’t want to put music on that no one would enjoy so that’s made it even better.
“Everyone is having a lot of fun listening to the music and dancing around in a space that’s non-judgemental,” he said.
While patients are enjoying busting out impressive moves on the dancefloor, Adam says there’s another benefit to the silent beats.
“It’s all about the exercise and movement, getting our patients up and about because we don’t want them to isolate in their room and not do anything enjoyable.
“It’s an activity that’s lots of fun, and just quietly without them realising they’re doing a bit of exercise as well so it’s great,” he said.
A consumer who participated in the silent disco said it’s been an amazing activity.
“I’ve loved everyone coming together as a group and seeing everyone express themselves differently.
“When we’re dancing, we don’t realise we’re exercising which is a really good thing. It keeps you motivated to keep going,” she said.