The other day while waiting for my package lunch in the Lobby, I met a young lady with a Guitar and wearing a uniform typical of home care personnels( visiting nurses and aides). I started conversing with her and asking if she is a visiting nurse or therapist. She said she is a music therapist associated with a Hospice Agency here in the East Bay and just finished a music therapy session with a client here at THD. She loves her job, but sometimes the driving can be very stressful. I told her my late wife was a visiting nurse and did enjoyed her job except for the driving and parking part of the job.
I told her I am not familiar with music therapy. She said she plays her guitar and sings to the client. I asked her what type of guitar music she is providing. She mentioned popular guitar music and sometimes even Frank Sinatra songs. She also accepts request of the client favorite songs with the guitar. They can sing along if they want it. She said she is a board-certified music therapist.
I am curious on the details of music therapy in Hospice Care so I did some search and here's a summary of what I learned.
"Hospice care focuses on symptom management and increased quality of life for people with life-limiting illnesses. Palliative care and hospice care both focus on symptom management; however, hospice is reserved for people with a life expectancy of six months or less if their illness is to run its usual course (NHPCO, 2018). Hospice care can be provided in private homes, long-term care facilities, hospice houses, or even hospitals.
FACTS ABOUT MUSIC THERAPY IN HOSPICE CARE
According to the American Music Therapy Association’s (AMTA) recent Workforce Studies, roughly 25% of music therapists reported working at least part time with patients in hospice care. Approximately 62.2% of hospices and home-health agencies in the US offered music therapy, with music therapy being the third most offered Complementary and Alternative Therapy provided in conjunction with traditional hospice care (Berkovitz, Sengupta, Jones, & Harris-Kojetin, 2011).
Board-certified music therapists (MT-BCs) may work with hospice patients and their families in the following settings:
♦ Private homes
♦ Long-term care facilities
♦ Free standing hospice houses
♦ Hospitals
MUSIC THERAPY IN HOSPICE CARE IS...
♦ A research informed therapy which uses music interventions to meet the psychosocial and physical needs of hospice patients.
♦ A discipline which works within the interdisciplinary team.
♦ A source of comfort and expression which is inclusive of
patients as well as their caregivers.
♦ Extends to all branches of a hospice program, such as
homecare, inpatient care, and bereavement services.
FUNCTIONS OF MUSIC THERAPY
Hospice Goals Which Music Therapists Address Include, But
Are Not Limited To:
Pain Anxiety Shortness of Breath Life Review
Spiritual Support
Social Support and Interaction
Bereavement
♦ Assist in decreasing pain and discomfort through individualized interventions.
♦ Facilitate family communication, relationship completion, and social interaction through creative
means.
♦ Provide alternative opportunities for processing emotions related to death and dying or
bereavement.
♦ Facilitate avenues for spiritual expression and support.
For complete details visit:
https://www.musictherapy.org/assets/1/7/FactSheet_Music_Therapy_in_Hospice_Care_2021.pdf
Meanwhile if you are a resident here in THD and are under Hospice Care, continue your music therapy and perhaps accept that "To Dust we all Shalt Return". My Prayers for You and your Love Ones. David
Note to THD Management: Thermostat Setting at the Newtons: This morning Pat D and I were enjoying our breakfast. Suddenly a blast of cold aircon air gives us both shivers. Pat and I complained but Newton's Personnel has no control of the temperature in the Dining Room. I will appreciate if THD management look into this uncomfortable scenario in our daily living here at THD. I know there're other residents besides Pat and I that are not happy with this AC control/thermostat setting in the Newton's Dining Area. My personal solution is always to bring my 49'er red jacket at meal times, breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Remember : "The day you really live is the day you have touch the lives of others." or "You have really lived if you have touched the life of others".
No comments:
Post a Comment