Evaluating a Treatment Manual for Music Therapy in Adult Outpatient Oncology Care

Authors

  • Alexander F. Wormit DSc
  • Marco Warth MA
  • Julian Koenig MA
  • Thomas K. Hillecke DSc
  • Hubert J. Bardenheuer MD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47513/mmd.v4i2.291

Abstract

Music therapy is a prevalent treatment for people with a life-threatening illness, with inpatient oncology care being one of the most common fields of application. A recently published review on this topic shows that studies examining the effects of active music therapy treatments in an outpatient setting are still rare. Based on the Phase Model of Psychotherapy Outcome, a treatment manual has been developed for outpatient music therapy cancer care, consisting of 20 individual sessions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the procedures of this manual by comparing prescores and postscores of 20 patients’ self-reported general therapy outcome, quality of life, and subjective pain intensity ratings. Results show that the intervention led to a significant improvement on all 3 dependent measures. Effect sizes ranged from medium to large. The authors conclude that it is necessary to further expand outpatient cancer care in Germany and to integrate music therapy as an effective treatment into these areas.

Author Biographies

Alexander F. Wormit, DSc

Alexander F. Wormit, DSc, is a professor of music therapy at SRH University Heidelberg in Maaßstraße, Heidelberg, Germany.

Marco Warth, MA

Marco Warth, MA, is a research assistant at SRH University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.

Julian Koenig, MA

Julian Koenig, MA, is a scientific employee at SRH University Heidelberg in Maaßstraße, Heidelberg, Germany.

Thomas K. Hillecke, DSc

Thomas K. Hillecke, DSc, is a professor of clinical psychology, psychotherapist at SRH University Heidelberg in Maaßstraße, Heidelberg, Germany.

Hubert J. Bardenheuer, MD

Hubert J. Bardenheuer, MD, is a professor of anesthesiology at Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.

Downloads

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2012)

Section

Full Length Articles