Resources & references

In this video, a music therapist and a mother share the benefits of music therapy for premature babies. 

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This video presents music therapy sessions led by Kelly Sweeney and Jessie Palmer, board-certified music therapists, for patients in the Carilion Clinic Hospice. Note: The beginning (2m 33s) corresponds to the excerpt shown in the lesson on music therapy. 

Read an article exploring the impact of guitar accompaniment styles on pain, hope, and therapist competence in an adult cardiovascular unit. Results showed that both simple and complex patterns reduced pain. Simple patterns were linked to slightly higher hope, while complex patterns were associated with slightly higher perceived therapist competence, though neither was statistically significant.

This review investigated the effects of music-based interventions (music therapy and music medicine) on pain and anxiety in children and adults undergoing medical procedures. Conclusions: There is a need to clearly define and differentiate between music therapy and music medicine interventions in procedural support research. Further research is necessary to determine which patients would benefit most from music interventions during medical procedures, and which interventions are most beneficial. 

This article explores the role of assessment in hospice music therapy. It presents an assessment tool designed to assist music therapists in achieving a detailed portrayal of the current level of functioning of adult hospice patients and obtaining relevant information to be used to create a care plan.

Emotional and physical healing can come from a single song that masks the pain, according to a burn a patient at the Birmingham Hospital. They never knew the power that music would play in healing during such a traumatic time of their life. This article includes a video (2:15).

Emotional and physical healing can come from a simple song that masks the pain, according to Markeyla Williams, 22, a patient at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. Williams never knew the power that music would play in healing during such a traumatic time of her life. You can also read the complete article (see other reference with same title).

Click here to read the related article.

Read an article exploring two case studies of the interdisciplinary collaboration between music therapists and medical social workers in end-of-life periods for patients in intensive care units (ICUs). The ways that each professional complements the other are highlighted. 

This qualitative study explores the lived experience of inter-active listening (IAL), an individualized music therapy experience in which the therapist plays music or sings while the patient engages through listening. 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.

Read an article about the impact of sociodemographic risk on the reported benefits of a specific music therapy intervention, active music engagement (AME), for families with children undergoing treatment for cancer. Results suggested that families with higher risk experienced more benefits from AME than families with lower risk.

Music therapists Antoni Aceves, Joel Olivé, and Rolando Benenzon discuss what music therapy is, its potential applications, and its therapeutic benefits across diverse populations.

Watch a video on how the music therapy team at a children's hospital supports children and their families, as well as supporting each other, through the difficulty of caring for sick children.