MTFI October

Doctoral researchers Jaana Ruotsalainen, MA and Annika Tammela, MA, will present their work on music in the lives of eldery people.

Annika Tammela, M.A. - Music education researcher & University teacher at the University of Jyväskylä. She is finishing her PhD Dissertation (monograph, in Finnish) about musical experiences of a certain cultural generation "The School Children of the Reconstruction times (1945-1959)". She has studied how Finnish elderly find the familiar songs from their childhood and school years. What is their stance on the songs which maintain certain values, e.g. religious and patriotic set of values? What benefits could singing and reminiscing these songs give to the elderly?

Jaana Ruotsalainen, M.A., - Music therapy researcher and at the University of Jyväskylä. She is pursuing her PhD examining the role of rhythm and the use of patients' own vocal cues in neurorehabilitation. She has worked professionally as a physiotherapist in Finland for more than 30 years, and received her Master's in Music Therapy in 2013. She continues to provide music and physiotherapy services.