Music therapy has been used in children’s hospitals and adult rehab centres in Australia for some years to help patients overcome their pain and develop new motor skills. Now it is being studied for helping palliative care patients in the US.
University of Alabama senior student Sarah Pitts was delighted by the response of patients and their families when she brought her music therapy skills to patients in the Hospice of West Alabama.
“We’ve gotten a lot of encouraging comments from families,” she said. “Sometimes families who hear us say, ‘Can you come and play a song or two?’ Even one session with a music therapist can reduce pain and anxiety in this setting.”
Music Therapy Eases Pain, Stretches Muscles
In Australia, music therapy has been regularly used in children’s hospitals to boost the spirits of children and teenagers, particularly cancer sufferers. Children have access to karaoke equipment and recording and sampling technology, as well as singing and instrumental sessions with therapists.
For the past five years, it has also been used as rehab tool for teenagers and adults recovering from major accidents and burns. One patient who benefited from the therapy in 2004 was a 19-year-old man who suffered quadriplegia after a trucking accident, and could barely speak.
After months of sessions with therapist Jeanette Tamplin, who played guitar, keyboard and sang, the man was able to write his own songs about the grief and pain of his physical condition, and even to perform one of his songs to his family and medical staff.
Ms. Tamplin said there was more to music therapy than relaxing the patient and giving them a pleasant time. “Physically, breathing, movement and coordination are all improved by exercises for music and basic music-making activities.”
Patients with spinal cord injury, acquired brain injury, amputees and patients with neurological problems all benefit from music exercises.
“As well, it gives them a great outlet to be able to express their feelings non-verbally,” she said.
Music as Emotional Support in Hospice Care
Ms Pitt said the approach in hospice and palliative care was quite different from that in rehab, and there was not much research to go on.
She recently won a major award, the E. Thayer Gaston Award for outstanding student paper, “A Survey of Music Therapy Students’ Practical Experiences in Hospice and Palliative Care,” and she continues her research with her mentor, Dr Andrea Cevasco, assistant professor of music at UA.
“The emotional component and goals are a little bit different from other clinical settings. You’re improving the quality of life or helping with the changing needs of the patient, and you’re also helping to provide closure and support for families,” Ms. Pitts said.
Patients in hospice care, depending on their illnesses, may or may not be able to participate in the playing of music for therapy. But music still matters.
She found a wide range of music to be helpful in working with hospice patients and families. Hymns, including “Amazing Grace,” are often requested, but patients frequently want to hear other styles of music as well.
“I prepare songs from different genres – hymns, show tunes, or sometimes songs from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, which may be from the patients’ young adult years. If the patient isn’t responsive and awake, I find out what the family wants me to play,” she said.
Support for the Terminally Ill and Closure for the Family
Ms. Pitts chose to work with hospice patients because of a personal experience that brought her face to face with mortality, when her brother was suffering from a potentially fatal health condition.
“I understand you need someone to support you at that time. As a therapist, I can be there for people when they face very difficult times in their lives.”
Her work with hospice patients varied; two clients became well enough that they could leave. But in another case, Ms. Pitts, at the request of a family who had heard her play, performed music while their loved one died.
“The family requested a few songs, and I played straight through,” she said. “I added a couple of songs of my own that I felt were appropriate. I felt like what she (the patient) needed was slowing-down music as her breathing slowed.
“I got to be there as she was dying, and we all got a chance to be a part of that.”
Survey to Help Music Therapists Understand Hospice Care
Working with hospice patients – that element of saying goodbye – troubles young music therapists, Dr. Cevasco said.
“They’re wondering how they’re going to deal with this relationship and this attachment that has developed with this patient and having the patient pass away – how they’re going to cope with this aspect of the job.”
Students feared how they would cope when working with dying patients, particularly how they handled “emotional attachments or relationships with clients, talking about the death and dying process and how previous experiences would affect current clinical work,” she said.
She and Ms. Pitt hope that researching the topic further will lead to more music therapy students feeling confident to provide this valuable emotional outreach to hospice patients and their families.
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Sue Cartledge - I'm a science, health, nutrition and lifestyle journalist, fascinated by the way the physical world operates in all its forms, and how ...
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