Music therapy in palliative care: current perspectives

Abstract

As the music therapy profession has developed internationally over the last 25 years, so has its role in palliative care. Music is a highly versatile and dynamic therapeutic modality, lending itself to a variety of music therapy techniques used to benefit both those living with life-threatening illnesses and their family members and caregivers. This article will give a broad overview of the historical roots of music therapy and introduce the techniques that are employed in current practice. By combining a review of mainstream music therapy practice involving musical improvisation, song-writing and receptive/recreational techniques with case material from my own experience, this article aims to highlight the potential music therapy holds as an effective holistic practice for palliative care, whatever the care setting.

Physical therapy in palliative care: From symptom control to quality of life: A critical review

“…EMG Biofeedback,[89] exercise-related imagery,[90] music therapy,[9192] play therapy,[93] virtual reality- Plante et al ,[94] and exercise environment[95] was shown to influence perceived well-being where outdoor exercises energizes while indoor exercises relaxes,[96] and, Qigong exercises had positive effects on mood and anxiety. [97]…”

The use of music in facilitating emotional expression in the terminally ill

“…Improvisation allows the client and therapist to enter into a dialogue that is not limited by words, yet somehow expressing and reaching a deep level of emotion, the patient is involved in a relationship that is important-it is intimate, yet not personal. 14 Many music therapists consider improvisation to be one of the most powerful techniques in palliative care music therapy. According to Lee, 15 the relationship that results from a primarily nonverbal means of communication can be crucial to the expression of issues that are often too difficult to articulate in words.…”

The clinical effects of music therapy in palliative medicine

“…Music has been used therapeutically in hospice [8,11,10], in palliative care [5, 14-19, 24, 25], while receiving radiation therapy [27], during chemotherapy [17,23,[27][28][29], and undergoing medical procedures (such as port placement/removal or tissue biopsy) [12,20]. Music has been used in symptom management such as for pain [2, 10-14, 16, 30, 34] and anxiety [1,2,11,12,14,16,23,27,30] and has been associated with improved quality of life [5,9] and spiritual healing [14,19,21,25,30].…”