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| Healing Harmonies: Music therapy helps hospital patients recover, cope |
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Death is hard for anyone to deal with, let alone a child.
So when a 7-year-old boy at Kosair Childrens Hospital faced terminal cancer, Cindy Williams wanted to help him find a way to cope.
Williams, a music therapist at Kosair, encouraged the boy to write and record songs that expressed how he felt about his struggle with cancer.
Williams also was responsible for providing quiet and soothing music in the room for the patient to have a quiet and soothing passing, Williams said.
After the boy died, his mother thanked Williams for helping her son make the recordings.
She will always have his voice and his words and his song, Williams said.
Music therapy is an established health care profession that promotes wellness, manages stress, alleviates pain and promotes physical rehabilitation, according to the American Music Therapy Association.
Music therapists must complete a bachelor's degree in music therapy which merges psychology, physiology and music, complete an extensive internship and pass an exam to receive board certification.
At Kosair, Williams uses music therapy with kids who have cancer, blood disorders and kidney disorders.
"I make (their illness) as least traumatic as possible," she said. "We'll do music activities to act as a distraction from pain or anxiety."
These activities include writing songs, improvising music, talking about song lyrics and playing with instruments during jam sessions, Williams said.
And music therapy is effective regardless of whether a child is musically talented, she said.
"They can be completely tone deaf and have no rhythm, and it is my job to make it a successful, positive experience," Williams said.
Music can also be an effective outlet of self-expression, she said.
"A lot of kids might not have the verbal vocabulary to express what they're feeling or going through to medical staff, so it's my job to give them an alternative outlet to express their feelings," Williams said.
But music therapy doesn't just help patients cope during a difficult time. It can also help them recover from physical and cognitive ailments.
Jenny Branson, one of six music therapists at Norton Audubon Hospital, works with adults with a wide variety of needs.
If a patient has to learn to move his right arm again but has a hard time doing the physical therapy exercises, Branson can step in and help.
"Sometimes exercises don't make sense, but if you are using that arm to play a drum, it makes sense," she said.
Branson also evaluates patients with neurological problems, such as strokes or brain injuries, and gives them the proper amount of stimulation.
"A brain that is injured often has trouble processing language, but rhythm and pitch make a lot more sense to us," Branson said.
Branson, who is president of the Music Therapy Association of Kentucky, also spends a lot of time in the critical care unit, helping patients manage pain and anxiety, especially those who are on ventilators.
She often uses music therapy during the removal of the ventilator, which can be a painful and frightening procedure.
"We have to find a way to keep the patient awake but calm," she said.
Norton Audubon Hospital also gives patients the option of wearing an iPod during surgery. The iPod is loaded with their preferred type of music and patients listen to the music to keep them calm prior to and after their surgery.
"It provides some sort of structure and stimulus when they are waking up in the recovery area," Branson said.
Branson also works with outpatient recovery groups who meet to support each other and use music to continue in the healing process. A pulmonary rehab group meets to play the hand chimes and sing. Many of the members are on oxygen and increase their lung strength through singing.
Kosiar Childrens Hospital and Norton Audubon Hospital, which are both part of Norton Healthcare, provide music therapy services free of charge. These services are funded by grants and private donations.
In six months, from July to December 2008, Williams worked with 260 Kosair patients and their families.
Both Branson and Williams have seen how music therapy has helped patients recover and cope with illness in a positive way.
"We really just address quality of life and make sure that we aid and provide a complimentary service toward their treatment," Williams said.
Louisville Voice
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