Comfort, Connection and Music: Experiences of Music Therapy and Inter-Active Listening on a Palliative Care Unit

Authors

  • SarahRose Black University Health Network Kensington Hospice University of Toronto
  • Gary Rodin Princess Margaret Cancer Centre University of Toronto Global Institute of Psychosocial, Palliative and End of Life Care (GIPPEC)
  • Camilla Zimmermann Princess Margaret Cancer Centre University of Toronto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47513/mmd.v9i4.508

Abstract

Music therapy in palliative care aims to provide psychosocial support, assistance with pain and symptom management and opportunities for life review and legacy work. Although there have been a variety of studies conducted on the effects of music therapy in palliative care facilities, there is a gap in research examining the experience and feasibility of music therapy on acute palliative care units within cancer care settings. This qualitative study explored the lived experience of inter-active listening (IAL), an individualized music therapy in which the therapist plays music or sings while the patient engages through listening, for nine inpatients on a palliative care unit. The study found that a receptive music therapy referred to as IAL was associated, in cancer patients in an acute palliative care unit, with increased emotional and spiritual well-being and a greater sense of connection to self and others. Further research into specific effects of various music therapy intervention styles is warranted. 

Author Biographies

SarahRose Black, University Health Network Kensington Hospice University of Toronto

Accredited Music Therapist and Registered Psychotherapist

Department of Supportive Care 

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre 

Gary Rodin, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre University of Toronto Global Institute of Psychosocial, Palliative and End of Life Care (GIPPEC)

Joint University of Toronto/University Health Network Harold and Shirley Lederman Chair in Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care

Head of the Department of Supportive Care (Princess Margaret Cancer Centre)

Director of the Global Institute of Psychosocial, Palliative and End-of-Life Care (GIPPEC)

Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto

Camilla Zimmermann, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre University of Toronto

Senior Scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre

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Published

2017-10-28

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Section

Full Length Articles