Mind&Melody

Cristina Rodriguez has always been fascinated by the intersection between art & science. While volunteering at a hospital when she was 14 years old, the concept behind Mind&Melody came to inception. Since 2014, Cristina has been the President & Co-Founder and her role involves operations, logistics, and expansion of programs. She has played the cello for over 10 years and graduated from FAU Honors College with a degree in Biochemistry. Her interest in the sciences led her to take part in research internships at Max Planck, Music Dynamics Lab, Scripps, and Jackson Health. In addition to her science background, Cristina holds a certificate in Nonprofit Management, and has been part of professional development programs like the Radical Partners Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, which have helped her develop as an entrepreneur. In 2018, Cristina was named Coors Light Líder of The Year, a national award which recognizes the next up-and-coming Latino leader.

Our vision is a world where generations care for one another. Today, over 5 million Americans are affected by Alzheimer’s, with the number projected to triple by 2050. The majority of older adults transition into long-term care due to Alzheimer’s. For far too long, long-term care facilities house residents who spend the majority of their time in isolation. Mind&Melody is here to change this. Our dynamic music program excites, stimulates, and positively transforms souls and social/emotional well-being. Through the power of music, we improve the quality of life of participants experiencing neurological impairments socially, cognitively, creatively while improving mood. Our team-approach to music sessions allows for individualized attention and care. We engage young people in our music sessions because when generations begin to communicate and learn from each other, perceptions change, emotional intelligence blossoms, and knowledge gets preserved.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent type of dementia, affecting over 50 million people globally. Alzheimer's not only steals memories from our loved ones; it steals their personality, humor, independence and is ultimately terminal. Today, over 5 million Americans 65 and older in the United States. By 2050 that number is projected to triple. Alzheimer's is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States and there is no cure. There are currently over 500,000 people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s in Florida, accounting for 12-14% of the senior population.  The majority of older adults transition into Long Term Care Facilities due to Alzheimer’s. Many long-term care facilities house residents that spend the majority of their time sitting, isolated, with little interaction with the general community and no access to stimulating activities.  Through the power of music, we improve the quality of life of participants experiencing neurological impairments socially, cognitively, creatively while improving mood.

Music is the universal language, it speaks to all of us regardless of age, race or mental ability. Through interactive, intergenerational music programs provided in healthcare facilities, nursing homes, day centers, assisted living facilities, and at home, Mind&Melody’s proprietary music curriculum has been proven to  improve quality of life for older adults with Alzheimer's and other types of dementia, and children diagnosed with developmental disabilities, ADHD, Down syndrome, and autism. Implemented by a team of professional musicians, programming is designed to go beyond entertainment. Sessions involve playing instruments, singing, dancing and general movement, which has been proven to help typically disengaged individuals blossom socially, cognitively, creatively and physically, while improving mood. The collaborative model brings together a team of high school, college, and professional musicians delivering highly individualized sessions to reach and engage participants, while building intergenerational relationships.

Prior to COVID, our sessions were delivered by a team of professional musicians in person. We have pivoted to bring our program online to seniors.  Data from sessions delivered on March 30th-May 12th, 2020 show the following engagement levels for the following functioning groups. High Functioning (n=38) 85%, Moderate Functioning (n=49) 39%, and Low Functioning (n=20) 14%. 

Our program serves individuals with neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. We measure impact quantitatively and qualitatively. After every session, we conduct a behavioral analysis to measure engagement through various indicators like Positive facial expression (i.e smiling), playing instruments, participation in activities, and awareness level (body language, alertness) during the sessions. Our program touches the lives of our dedicated musicians and volunteers to our participants, their families, and their caregivers – we bring life and light back into so many healthcare facilities that desperately need it. Our programs are socially, creatively, physically, and cognitively stimulating, our main goal is to improve quality of life.

Our programs are tailored and personalized to the individual. We speak to participants' caregivers to learn more about their family history and participants’ favorite music. For example, In 2019 we launched a program for Holocaust survivors. The song list was informed by survivors, members of the Jewish Community, and Yiddish and Hebrew playing-musicians.  We learned about cultural norms, holidays and reflected it in our programming. 

Individuals with Alzheimer’s lose their ability to connect with others because they can’t communicate the way they used to any longer. We are able to change families' perspective about their loved one’s perception about the world. A caregiver describes her transformation: “My husband & I have been shown that here is still something positive going on in Alexandra’s brain. We had all become used to thinking of her as a person with dementia, unable to communicate or appreciate what is happening around her. I think one of the most significant improvements in her life are the music sessions”

I have always been fascinated by the intersection between art & science. At an early age, I experienced the transformative effects of music. While volunteering at a hospital when I was 14 years old, the concept behind Mind&Melody came to inception. I dreamt of making music accessible to people that would greatly benefit from it. I tried to implement this idea several times throughout high school & college but it was not possible.

During college, I met my co-founder Lauren Koff and I shared with her some of my ideas. Mind&Melody was born out of passion to bring one of humanity’s greatest gifts: music, to our older adults in our healthcare system while engaging young people in the process.  In 2014, when we partnered with the FAU Memory & Wellness Center. During our program, David, a professional violinist in his youth, had stopped playing due to his dementia, spending his days sitting quietly, withdrawn, and with a blank stare. Until one day, a viola was placed in his hands and he played alongside a musician. He lit up completely, smiling ear to ear; a smile we had not seen before. This was the first time we saw the real David. 

Music has always been an important part of life. My mother played music for me when I was in the womb. She says I always used to dance there. I felt the power of music when I began to play the cello when I was 10 years old. I realized how music had the ability to stop time and I wouldn’t have a worry in the world. I wanted to bring this feeling I felt to others. When I was 14, I started volunteering at a local children’s hospital and that’s when the idea for Mind&Melody was born. As I began to read about the impact of music, I learned about the impact it can have on neurological conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s. I learned how it can bring back memories that may have seemed lost forever. The memories that are brought back allow us to share those stories that normally we couldn’t because we wouldn’t even know how to access them. By listening to others, understanding where they're coming from, what they’ve been through, we can start becoming more empathetic towards one another regardless of our age or mental status.

I’ve dedicated 6 years of my life to build Mind&Melody. Mind&Melody has been a dream of mine since I was 14 years old. I’m persistent, resilient, and passionate about the work I do everyday. I have years of experience in running several aspects of Mind&Melody from program design, to implementation, outreach campaigns, grant writing, public speaking, and more. My mentality is to learn from failure as fast as I can and continue to move forward. Our team embodies this same mentality and is eager to take Mind&Melody to the next level. We have implemented over 5,000 music sessions in 90+ facilities across Florida with plans to scale. We received a $150K grant from the Quantum Foundation to measure the power of M&M’s program based on preliminary results from our program. We are working with Dr. Galvin at FAU, a renowned researcher in nonpharmacological interventions in dementia. Our organization’s robust recognition locally and nationally include United Way’s 2018 Inspire305 Trailblazer Award, Coors Light Líderes of the Year 2018, and the 2017 Florida Blue Health Innovation Competition recognizing Mind&Melody’s potential to drive remarkable advancements that improve health care outcomes and reduce costs.

In 2017, I remember when I got the email saying “we need your program at the hospital every day 5 times a week 2 times a day” I called the activities director at the hospital to ensure I was reading the email correctly. This was about to be our largest contract. At this point, we had only 2-3 programs running and we were about to quadruple it. I knew this was our moment, and while I did not have the team in place, I said to the activities director: we can do it. I began to call everyone I knew that had access to musicians, I called music stores, schools, orchestras universities. I needed to build a team in less than a week and train them and also provide hands on experience. I quickly set up a training session with one of our partner facilities and completed the training. After the first week of delivering the program, the entire team of musicians QUIT. It was a Friday and I had 2 days to build an entire team again by Sunday. I stayed positive and envisioned I would find the people needed - I found musicians and I jumped in myself.

During Startup Weekend, I worked on a project focused on converting sound waves into vibrations. At 8pm, the evening before the pitch day, the team collapsed. All the work we had put into the project - gone. The remainder of the team was very discouraged. 

I asked the event organizer if I could pitch another idea by myself and he said not unless I had 2 other team members to pitch with me. It was already 11pm and the majority of people had left home.

Even though I was apprehensive, I walked into an almost empty room and nervously approached two guys and asked them if they could be on my team. 

The morning of the pitch competition, I did not have a presentation, business plan, in fact all I had was the cardboard brain and the vision that we were going to succeed. The passion and enthusiasm I had for the idea itself caused people from other teams to leave their own team and join ours. It was incredible to see all of this happen before my eyes. I learned to motivate people and excite them about an idea!

Mind&Melody partners with local universities to develop Mind&Melody chapters that help the organization recruit musicians and volunteers, and raise awareness in the community. Chapters have been established at FSU & UF, with chapters continuously being added as Mind&Melody’s footprint is expanded. Key partners include healthcare facilities across the state of Florida where Mind&Melody has provided music programming and from which referrals for new sites will be solicited. Additionally, we have partnered with Simply Healthcare to work to increase our reach in the community. Simply Healthcare has sponsored sessions at long term care facilities. 

Our methodology covers established music pedagogy in a different way to reach people with Alzheimer’s. We bring together high school, college, and professional musicians into healthcare facilities to deliver the curriculum. Our program is highly individualized to reach and engage different levels of dementia and musical ability. We have identified an untapped potential in people experiencing Alzheimer's that go beyond just passively listening to music. Our programs are socially, cognitively, physically, and creatively stimulating for the participants.

Neurological Impairments  affect physical, learning, language, or behavior areas. These conditions may impact day-to-day functioning, and usually last throughout a person’s lifetimeSome of these neurological impairments are progressive and degenerative and some may have no cure (like Alzheimer's/Parkinson's ) Our program benefit adults and children experiencing developmental disabilities, ADHD, down syndrome, autism Alzheimer's, and other types of dementia.

To date, no cure for dementia has been found, although pharmacological treatments have been shown to lessen cognitive symptoms and maintain or improve functional abilities for a limited time (Alzheimer’s Association, 2017). 

However, it is difficult to manage symptoms associated with dementia with medication alone. Older adults are at high risk for adverse effects from medications, especially when taking multiple medications (Hanlon et al., 2006). As a nonpharmacological treatment, music has been shown to be effective in reducing agitation and anxiety associated with dementia. Sung, Chang, and Lee (2010) reviewed 27 studies conducted from 2005 to 2010 that reported that music positively influenced a broad range of outcomes in various populations: alleviating anxiety, promoting relaxation, improving mood, reducing pain, decreasing agitation, improving exercise performance, and increasing food intake. Familiar music from the past assisted in recall of memories associated with positive feelings. Mind&Melody helps manage behavioral symptoms of neurological impairment that affect everyday life. Non-pharmacological interventions ameliorate these symptoms and lead to a better quality of life. Therefore mediating these symptoms through music, in a non pharmacological approach can lead to a better quality of life. We measure the change in behavior by their engagement in our sessions. The indicators we look at are (Social, Creative, Physical and Mood before and after every session).

Prior to COVID, we were serving 1,000 participants across 50 long term care facilities in South Florida. By the second week of March, our programs had come to a complete halt. We quickly pivoted to provide online music programs and are currently serving approximately 120 participants across 13 long term care facilities and 5 private clients. Despite this challenge, we have been able to reach seniors in different parts of the country and even Canada. We recognize that Mind&Melody has the potential to scale nationally and internationally through technology. In 5 years, we seek to serve 10,000 people and beyond.

Year 1:

Goal 1: Publish research study

We received a $150K grant from the Quantum Foundation to measure the power of M&M’s program based on results from our program.  The study is hypothesized to support the prolonged effect of music on positive mood change on specific dementia related behaviors, such as agitation and anxiety. We are working with Dr. Galvin at FAU, a renowned researcher in nonpharmacological interventions in dementia. We are planning to publish our study within a year.

Goal 2:  Improve marketing strategy to grow online programs for seniors aging in place

 Additionally, our goal will be to improve our marketing strategy to reach seniors aging in place.  We anticipate building more partnerships with private doctors will help identify for participants living at home as well as creating a digital marketing strategy. We need mentorship in this area. 

In 5 years, We envision explosive national and ultimately international growth. We seek to build partnerships with technology companies, like Zoom to help reach more seniors at home. We also anticipate expanding our programs to reach more individuals with ADHD, Autism, Down Syndrome and more.

Market Barriers: We need a strategy to better reach participants at home. Most of our work has been conducted inside of long term care facilities. The challenges with facilities are generally varying budgets across facilities regardless of size and incorporation status. This makes it challenging to quickly identify which organizations are able to afford our program. Additionally, during this time of COVID, the long term care facility system is strained and is experiencing a high amount of turnover which makes it more challenging to introduce programs to leadership. 

Financial: We need to raise money to grow our team to take on additional work. There are different market opportunities we can pursue like partnering with home health agencies, neurologists, tech companies, but we need the capacity to be able to focus solely on each channel. This will take funding to expand our team and hire the people with the appropriate skill sets. 

Insurance Reimbursement: We believe that insurance reimbursement would help our organization expand nationally. We do not have the expertise in this area but see this as an opportunity to scale.

To address the market barrier, we need to find other ways to reach seniors aging in place. We need to compile a list of neurologists nationally and contact them to introduce our program. We can reach out to neurologists we have worked with in our network to build an outreach strategy. We need to develop a robust digital marketing strategy through facebook ads, google ads, and social media to increase awareness of our program. We need to hire an individual that focuses on digital marketing to increase our reach. 

 To increase our funding in order to increase our capacity, we are applying to a variety of capacity building programs and grants to help us reach our goal.

 As far as navigating the reimbursement process, we can reach out to some of the home health agencies we have worked with and inquire about the process of reimbursement. We could also reach out to insurance companies to gain a better understanding of the process.

Mind&Melody partners with local universities to develop Mind&Melody chapters that help the organization recruit musicians and volunteers, and raise awareness in the community. Chapters have been established at FSU & UF, with chapters continuously being added as Mind&Melody’s footprint is expanded. Key partners include healthcare facilities across the state of Florida where Mind&Melody has provided music programming and from which referrals for new sites will be solicited. Additionally, we have partnered with Simply Healthcare to work to increase our reach in the community. Simply Healthcare has sponsored sessions at long term care facilities. 

Our revenue model is a sustainable business model. We utilize grant funding to provide FREE demonstrations of our program to potential clients in order to create value and build trust. Once clients have experienced our program, they are able to witness the impact of our program on their residents and in-turn join our fee-for-service model.  Our fee-for-service model creates a sustainable fundraising strategy where our program exists in the community perpetually. 

In 2019, 60% of Mind&Melody’s sessions were fee-for-service compensated directly by family members or healthcare facilities with participation longevity fostered as a result of improvements in the beneficiary’s quality of life. Bi-weekly and weekly sessions are generally purchased for a one-year term, with many clients continuing with the program after one year. One of Mind&Melody’s longest participating clients has been involved in the program for three years. 

During this time of COVID, we have continued this model through online music sessions but are looking to expand the model by exploring different market channels.

See above.

In 2019, we generated $320K in revenue with 65% of revenue coming from earned income through our fee-for-service model. Year to date, we have generated $150K in revenue and we anticipate to at least double our revenue by the end of the year.

We seek to raise funds through capacity building programs to help expand our team and operations.

We anticipate spending approximately 80% of our revenue this year. 

I am applying for The Elevate Prize  because I want to see the impact of Mind&Melody worldwide. Our biggest challenge at the time is scaling because of market barriers and funding.In order to scale our work, we are seeking support in the following areas: Marketing, media and exposure, Mentorship/coaching, Funding and revenue model. We need assistance in the creation of digital marketing strategy to build brand awareness and reach seniors aging in place. Mentorship has been essential in our past success and growth and we are looking to build new relationships through the Elevate Prize Network. We believe the mentor network can further assist us in developing a fundraising plan to increase the support of our current growth strategy and explore additional channels of sustainable revenue growth. Lastly, we are seeking funding to increase our organization capacity and invest in marketing. I believe that with the support of we can bring the power of music to seniors nationwide and worldwide.

We wish to partner with insurance companies to make Mind&Melody reimbursable through insurance. Additionally, we seek to establish partnerships with large long-term care facilities where our program could be rolled out through a chain of locations, build a network of supporting neurologists, and build partnerships with home health agencies to reach seniors aging in place.

United Health Care - I would like to partner with them to offer insurance reimbursement. 

Brookdale Senior Living - I would like to roll out Mind&Melody programs across all their locations.

Zoom/Google/Microsoft - I would like to help them reach more seniors and in turn they support sessions for low-income seniors.