Music Therapy and the Symphony: A University-Community Collaborative Project in Palliative Care

Abstract

This article outlines a unique collaborative project designed to increase palliative care patient access to music therapy services by tapping into multiple university-community resources—resources of an undergraduate university music therapy program, of a professional symphony orchestra, and of funding available for university-community partnerships. Music therapy interventions were provided to palliative care patients within single sessions by 2-person music therapy teams (each comprised of one student music therapist and one symphony orchestra musician). Student music therapists served as team leaders and symphony musicians served as co-facilitators. The project was evaluated over a 3-year period in terms of student music therapy intervention effec- tiveness on the pain relief, relaxation, positive mood, and quality of life of 371 adult palliative care patients. Results indicated that there was a significant difference at the P < .0001 level in the pretest/posttest measures on all 4 variables. Study limitations and directions for future research are identified.

Keywords

complementary therapies, mood, music therapy, palliative care, pain, quality of life, relaxation, symphony orchestra