Palliative Music

The Journal of Pain and Symptom Management reports that “five symptoms—fatigue, anxiety, sadness, relaxation and pain—were significantly improved following a live therapeutic harp treatment.”

Music for Patients with Alzheimer’s and Dementia

Ecumen Awakenings™ program: Perhaps the most heart-warming and profound result of the use of music in the treatment of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients is the Ecumen Awakenings™ program. Awakenings uses music as part of a complementary alternative medicine [CAM] model to redirect and prevent unwanted behavior in residents.

Senior Housing News published an article on the success of the Ecumen Awakenings program: “Between June 30, 2011 to June 30, 2012, Ecumen staff reported 800 medication decreases or discontinuations, organization data shows. Atypical antipsychotics, which have mood stabilizing properties, have an average monthly prescription cost of $250 to $475 per month, but with 800 reductions in these meds, Ecumen is saving between $200,000 and $380,000 a month for the residents and Medicaid/Medicare. This translates to between $2.4 million and $4.6 million per year.”

MUSIC & MEMORY℠ is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.

Music for Patients with Cancer

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews  reports on music interventions for improving psychological and physical outcomes in cancer patients. “The findings suggest that music therapy and music medicine interventions may have a beneficial effect on anxiety, pain, mood, quality of life, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure in cancer patients. Furthermore, music may have a small effect on heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure.”

Music for Patients on Mechanical Ventilators

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews indicates “that music listening may have a beneficial effect on anxiety in mechanically ventilated patients. These findings are consistent with the findings of three other Cochrane systematic reviews on the use of music interventions for anxiety reduction in medical patients. The review furthermore suggests that music listening consistently reduces respiratory rate and systolic blood pressure. Finally, results indicate a possible beneficial impact on the consumption of sedatives and analgesics. Therefore, we conclude that music interventions may provide a viable anxiety management option to mechanically ventilated patients.”

Videos about Music-Thanatology

At Providence Health and Services, music-thanatologists focus on quality of life for patients nearing end-of-life.

This news story from KOBI-TV in Medford, Oregon shows how music-thanatology is used to help patients cope with severe medical conditions.

Professional Organizations

Music-Thanatology Association International: The professional site for worldwide governance and certification of music-thanatologists