Hospice Music Therapy In Walnut Creek City, California
Music therapy is defined as the creation of beneficial interventions to reach non-musical aims in order to meet a client’s requirements. Determining what the client’s goals should be is a key aspect of the music therapy standards of practice and knowing what goals are acceptable for each client requires a lot of skill. After the customer has been assessed, goals are set. After a customer has been referred by someone, they are assessed. Music therapy might be recommended by a doctor, nurse or social worker in hospice.
It’s practically impossible to find someone who does not enjoy music in some way. Music therapy has therapeutic effects without requiring the patient to know how to compose music or play an instrument. Music has the natural potential to recall happy memories and emotional events from our past, allowing patients to relax and feel uplifted.
What is Music Therapy?
Because of its natural therapeutic effects, music therapy in hospice and palliative care is in high demand. It employs clinically validated musical interventions as well as music’s natural mood-lifting capabilities to aid in the patient’s overall well-being. Music therapy isn’t simply for those in hospice or palliative care. The therapeutic advantages are available to people of different ages, ethnicities, origins and abilities.
What Is Music Therapy's Purpose In Hospice Care?
The music therapist (MT) will interact with the patient and/or family during the assessment. They will learn the patient’s favorite music as well as any notable songs or musicians that they adore. Therapist might inquire as to what the patient is anticipating or hoping for, as well as what is most important to them. Typically, the MT will have had the opportunity to review the patient’s chart to determine the patient’s primary and secondary diagnosis (what the terminal illness is) and we can determine what goals are suitable based on that alone. If the patient has dementia, for example, the aims will most likely be reduced isolation and depression (since they often don’t recall when people visit them) as well as improved quality of life.
The following is a list of the most typical hospice music therapy goals:
- Improve quality of life
- Life review
- Decrease isolation
- Decrease loneliness
- Decrease anxiety
- Decrease depression
- Family connection
- Spiritual support
- Emotional support
- Interpersonal support
- Self-expression
- Independence
- Anticipatory grief
- Comfort
- Increase presence
Goals can also be created for the caregiver or the family. The patient may be unconscious or unresponsive but the spouse or other family members may be struggling to cope with their sadness. Music therapy can still be prescribed to help the family in certain situations. Family connection, spiritual and emotional support and anticipatory grief are common goals in these situations.
Emotional Support
This difficult period of transition can have a negative impact on the patient’s mental and emotional health, as well as the loved ones that surround them.
Counseling, support services & music therapy can help patients maintain a positive outlook by reducing stress and worry.
Melodia Care provides grief assistance to anybody, regardless of whether or not they are a member of our organization. Our Hospice Program offers bereavement care to the patient’s family as well.
For someone with a life-limiting illness, mobility limitations and other symptoms can make simple actions like bathing, eating and dressing challenging. Our hospice care team’s health care specialists, including a hospice assistant, can assist with personal care and help patients maintain a healthy routine. It also makes individuals feel more like themselves and in command of their lives and situations.
How Does Music Therapy Work?
Music therapists have a thorough understanding of how music can improve a patient’s emotional well-being. Music therapists start by determining whether or not music therapy is appropriate for a particular patient. Music therapists have a thorough understanding of how music can improve a patient’s emotional well-being.
By integrating their wide variety of musical knowledge and talents, music therapists assess the patient’s individual treatment needs. They devise a one-of-a-kind strategy for assisting their patients in achieving relaxation and contentment.
So, how music may assist in achieving these objectives? They are self-explanatory in some cases. The music therapist’s presence, as well as the music itself, can be soothing and can aid in the reduction of isolation and loneliness, when music is chosen that is meaningful to the patient and/or has lyrics that have significant meaning to the scenario.
What Music Therapy Techniques Are Used?
Music therapists who deal with hospice and palliative care patients employ a variety of therapeutic strategies, including:
- Music & guided imagery.
- Analyze the lyrics.
- Projects on leaving a legacy and looking back on one’s life.
- Musical Instruments.
Who Can Benefit From Music Therapy?
Music therapists use a wide range of musical activities and interventions in their work. For instance, the therapist and patient may collaborate to write songs to assist in conveying their feelings; a patient may learn to play the piano to enhance fine motor skills or utilize musical instruments to cope with silent emotions.
Music therapists have a lot of expertise screening patients to see if they may benefit from music therapy. Music therapy may not be desired by all patients. Patients who gain the most may require further assistance in one or more of the categories below:
• A social situation (isolation and loneliness)
• Affective (depression and anxiety)
• Physique (pain and symptom management)
• Think about it (disorientation and confusion)
Physical Benefits of Hospice Music Therapy
Music therapy has significant physical benefits, in addition to being an effective instrument for emotional, spiritual and social recovery.
Music has been demonstrated to decrease physical pain perception as well as the duration and severity of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Music that has been well chosen can aid in relaxation and relieve anxiety, agitation and sleeplessness, as well as give motivation for physical activity and improve feelings of well-being. By providing possibilities for choice and decision-making, music therapy can also help the individual maintain a sense of independence and control over his or her life. Instruments and materials can be changed to encourage as much participation as feasible. Music therapy offers the following benefits to hospice patients with physical pain:
Relaxation Improved
Relaxation can be greatly aided by music therapy. Music has been demonstrated to produce a deeper level of restorative relaxation when used with relaxation activities. Over time, skilled music therapists can narrow in on the types of music that the patient reacts to most and create the most relaxing setting possible.
Improved Communication & Speaking Skills
Many oral motor abilities, such as breath control, voice intensity and articulation, are shared by speech and singing. Singing in music therapy sessions might help patients strengthen motor abilities that have been harmed by their condition.
Improved Motor Coordination
Instruments aid in the development of precise physical movements, such as plucking strings on a guitar or placing fingers on piano keys. Over time, these exact physical activities can aid patients in regaining lost muscular control and improving general hand-eye coordination.
Bereavement Support & Music Therapy
Music is a universally accessible art form that allows for nonverbal communication and emotional expression. Music creates a setting that aids in the understanding, healing and growth of persons who are grieving the loss of a loved one. In a grief setting, music therapy can benefit surviving loved ones and their families by:
Understanding & finding meaning in grief
The pain, sadness and anger that may accompany grieving can be explored and shared without fear of judgement in the safe setting that music provides. Music therapy can help surviving family members understand and share their emotions as they go through the grieving recovery process by using therapeutic tasks including listening to music and studying lyrics.
Honoring the deceased life and memory
Music has long been employed in the tradition of memorializing a deceased loved one and paying tribute to their memory. Music therapists can assist families in processing their sorrow and creating a personal and meaningful tribute to a deceased loved one by engaging in therapeutic songwriting.
Affordability For Everyone
Music therapy is a sophisticated, intimate and deeply spiritual discipline that helps those who are nearing the end of their lives. It’s a tool that combines culture, memory and spirituality to produce a healing experience that’s tailored to each individual. Music therapy allows hospice patients, families, caregivers and the bereaved to enjoy physical relaxation, heal emotional scars and recharge spiritually by utilizing the restorative nature of music.
After a board-certified music therapist has examined and suggested music therapy as a good fit for the patient, they and their families can begin to reap the many benefits it has to offer. Melodia Care’s music therapy allows our patients to recollect about happier periods in their lives while also experiencing moments of joy and peace.
You can reach us at any time of day or night by contacting us through our 24/7 online customer support chat or by calling 1-888 635-6347 (MELODI-7).