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"Words can never reach far enough into music to touch her essence. However, with trying, our words will become more musical, our respect and wonder more absorbing, our understanding of music and ourselves deeper."
-- C. BEREZNAK KENNY
Music therapy for the terminally ill is a challenging undertaking in any sense of the word. Therapists working in the palliative care/hospice setting must concern themselves with the physical, psychologic, social, and spiritual aspects of a life-threatening illness as well as be deeply aware of the personal impact that music has on each person. Also to be considered is how each person approaches his/her own illness and end of life. Within this context, music therapy aims at diminishing the impact of the diverse crises around terminal illness and death, but not at resolving them. The choice of how music is to be used during care as well as the choice not to have any music at all are important and should be respected. That being said, many benefits to having a music therapist as part of a multidisciplinary team are known. They bring with them another facet to the whole person care that is needed in order to offer the most comfort to the terminally ill. The following list of uses of music therapy with these patients is adapted from an article by Susan Munro, MT and Balfour Mount, MD entitled "Music Therapy in Palliative Care" which appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal and which stemmed from their work at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Canada.
Music therapy in palliative/hospice care can be a very rewarding area of practice, but it must be approached intuitively and with concern for the total person involved--from either the patient's or the therapist's perspective.
Physical
promoting muscular relaxation
breaking the vicious circle of chronic pain by stimulating endorphine release and by relieving anxiety and depression thus altering the perception of pain
facilitating physical participation in activities to the degree possible
inducing sleep
providing distraction to re-focus attention and thus relax the aggravated wretching reflexes which can cause frequent vomiting
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