At Maxcare Hospice, our mission is to provide comfort, dignity, and peace to all our patients through every stage of care. One of the ways we do this is through therapeutic music.
Music has long been recognized for its soothing properties and can help hospice patients manage their pain and soothe the spirit. We believe that music can offer comfort where words cannot.
What is Therapeutic Music?
This is a holistic gentle therapy that uses musical activities and interventions to help patients express their feelings and cope with complex emotions. According to the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), music therapy can help with psychodynamic, behavioral, neurological, or integrative challenges that hospice patients may face.
You don’t have to be musically inclined to benefit from this therapy. Simply listening to music can calm your breathing and provide a sense of relief.
Who Can Benefit From Therapeutic Music?
Therapeutic music is a great option for patients who:
- Feel anxious or have dementia
- Need spiritual support
- Experience pain and symptoms that are hard to control with conventional medical interventions
- Patients dealing with cognitive conditions
- Patients facing communication and cognitive impairments
We’ve seen how music therapy can bring our patients moments of peace and joy.
How Therapeutic Music is Used in Hospice
Our care team will determine the type of music therapy needed based on the patient’s specific needs. To make sure that our patients receive the appropriate care, our music therapists will carry out assessments that look at the patient’s physical symptoms, cognitive abilities, psychological needs, spiritual preferences, and trauma history to create a care plan.
With this insight, we can create a care plan that uses music as a gentle companion.
- Reducing anxiety. Music is used to calm and soothe patients who are struggling with complex emotions and stressors. The music can also trigger positive emotions and memories, which can be a source of great comfort.
- Pain management. Physical pain is often linked to our emotional state, and so music therapy can act as a distraction to reduce pain perception. Music achieves this by engaging the nervous system and promoting full-body relaxation without the need for medication.
- Promoting emotional connection. It’s not uncommon for patients to find it difficult to process and express their emotions relating to their end-of-life journey. Therapeutic music can also help patients connect with others, especially their family members.
Therapeutic Music Techniques
At Maxcare Hospice, our therapeutic music is tailored to the unique care needs of our patients using common techniques like:
- Singing familiar songs
- Playing instruments
- Movement and light dancing
- Guided meditation for relaxation
- Writing and discussing lyrics
- Letting the patients choose their favorite songs
These activities can help patients live meaningful lives in comfort and with dignity.
