Music Therapy in Pediatric Oncology

My dad came across this article yesterday and sent it my way, as did my father-in-law. ha ha. They are both always watching out for me!

It briefly described using music therapy, specifically “Therapeutic Music Videos”, with patients 11 to 24 undergoing stem cell transplants. Goals during treatment were to boost resilience , which they defined as ‘positively adjusting to stressors’. I hope you read the article to know the results. Do you think the music videos helped with resiliency?

This article brought back memories for me because I wrote a research paper in college about music therapy in the pediatric oncology population. One of the things I addressed through my paper was the fact that music therapy brought autonomy to patients undergoing treatment in the hospital setting. Think about it. When in the hospital would a child have a voice, a chance to make decisions and choices? Autonomy allows a child to make choices and decisions and music therapy provides the patient numerous opportunities for self-expression. For instance, the child can pick the instrument of their choice, the instrument their parents are to play, the therapist is to play. They can pick the tempos, dynamics, style, song, the next song, and so forth. I bet this latest study brought plenty of autonomy to those children and adolescents featured in their own music videos.

Brianna

 

Photo credit: Jannoon28/Shutterstock