SANTA CLARITA, CA - Studies have recently found that music therapy improves both mental and physical well-being in patients of all kinds. Links to this are found in the consistency of patient treatment from music therapists.
Music therapy has made an impact in end of life care. There are about 7,500 certified music therapy practitioners throughout the United States.
This board-certified health profession is steadily growing in the U.S. and is developing new studies that show the importance of its work. A study done by the Center of Music Therapy in Finksburg, Maryland, reveals that 15 percent of music therapists work in a geriatric setting, with 10 percent of them working with terminally ill patients.
The study also shows that music therapy improves patients’ quality of life and reduces pain. One of the reasons for this is that therapists are found to often be the only professionals consistently treating their needs.
This includes cognitive, social, physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of patients. Working with these patients includes talking with them, recording their thoughts and helping them to write inspired lyrics, which are then accompanied by music.
While many patients can suffer from memory loss, musical memories have been shown to last the longest. This has been seen most obviously through Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients.
Many older patients have also been found to have more of a response to music from when they were younger. This is thought to remind them of when they were still able-bodied and independent.
Work with terminally ill patients also includes sick children and their parents. In this realm of care, therapists often help the parents write and sing lullabies to their children, while recording the song.
Therapists say they are transforming the pain of loss in these situations into a feeling of creativity. While some of their patients are able to write and contribute to the creative process, some just listen which proves to be equally therapeutic.
Currently, music therapists are aiming to become central to end-of-life care, much like chaplains and social workers. Most insurance companies and government-funded health programs do not yet cover music therapy as a healthcare profession.
By Savanna Birchfield
Contribution from Sharon Otterman- New York Times
Photo by Jeenah Moon
Video by UCSF Medical Center
Audio by Savanna Birchfield
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