Thematic analysis of the experience of group music therapy for people with chronic quadriplegia.

BACKGROUND: People living with quadriplegia are at risk for social isolation and depression. Research with other marginalized groups has indicated that music therapy can have a positive effect on mood and social interaction. OBJECTIVE: To gather descriptions of participants' experience of 2 types of group music therapy - therapeutic singing or music appreciation and relaxation - and to determine commonalities and differences between participants' experience of these 2 methods. METHODS: We interviewed 20 people with quadriplegia about their experience of participating in 12 weeks of therapeutic singing (n = 10) or music appreciation and relaxation (n = 10). These methods of group music therapy were the interventions tested in a previously reported randomized controlled trial. The interview data were subjected to an inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Six main themes were generated from the interview data. Four of these were shared themes and indicated that both types of group music therapy had a positive effect on mood/mental state and physical state, encouraged social engagement, and reconnected participants with their music identity or relationship with music. In addition, the participants who participated in the singing groups found singing to be challenging and confronting, but experienced a general increase in motivation. CONCLUSIONS: Group music therapy was experienced as an enjoyable and accessible activity that reconnected participants with their own music. Participants frequently described positive shifts in mood and energy levels, and social interaction was stimulated both within and beyond the music therapy groups.

Individual music therapy for mental health care clients with low therapy motivation: multicentre randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Music therapy (MT) has been shown to be efficacious for mental health care clients with various disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and substance abuse. Referral to MT in clinical practice is often based on other factors than diagnosis. We aimed to examine the effectiveness of resource-oriented MT for mental health care clients with low motivation for other therapies. METHOD: This was a pragmatic parallel trial. In specialised centres in Norway, Austria and Australia, 144 adults with non-organic mental disorders and low therapy motivation were randomised to 3 months of biweekly individual, resource-oriented MT plus treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU alone. TAU was typically intensive (71% were inpatients) and included the best combination of therapies available for each participant, excluding MT. Blinded assessments of the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and 15 secondary outcomes were collected before randomisation and after 1, 3 and 9 months. Changes were analysed on an intention-to-treat basis using generalised estimating equations in longitudinal linear models, controlling for diagnosis, site and time point. RESULTS: MT was superior to TAU for total negative symptoms (SANS, d = 0.54, p < 0.001) as well as functioning, clinical global impressions, social avoidance through music, and vitality (all p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Individual MT as conducted in routine practice is an effective addition to usual care for mental health care clients with low motivation.

Effect of singing on respiratory function, voice, and mood after quadriplegia: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of singing training on respiratory function, voice, mood, and quality of life for people with quadriplegia. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Large, university-affiliated public hospital, Victoria, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Participants (N=24) with chronic quadriplegia (C4-8, American Spinal Injury Association grades A and B). INTERVENTIONS: The experimental group (n=13) received group singing training 3 times weekly for 12 weeks. The control group (n=11) received group music appreciation and relaxation for 12 weeks. Assessments were conducted pre, mid-, immediately post-, and 6-months postintervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Standard respiratory function testing, surface electromyographic activity from accessory respiratory muscles, sound pressure levels during vocal tasks, assessments of voice quality (Perceptual Voice Profile, Multidimensional Voice Profile), and Voice Handicap Index, Profile of Mood States, and Assessment of Quality of Life instruments. RESULTS: The singing group increased projected speech intensity (P=.028) and maximum phonation length (P=.007) significantly more than the control group. Trends for improvements in respiratory function, muscle strength, and recruitment were also evident for the singing group. These effects were limited by small sample sizes with large intersubject variability. Both groups demonstrated an improvement in mood (P=.002), which was maintained in the music appreciation and relaxation group after 6 months (P=.017). CONCLUSIONS: Group music therapy can have a positive effect on not only physical outcomes, but also can improve mood, energy, social participation, and quality of life for an at-risk population, such as those with quadriplegia. Specific singing therapy can augment these general improvements by improving vocal intensity.

Music interventions for improving psychological and physical outcomes in cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Having cancer may result in extensive emotional, physical and social suffering. Music interventions have been used to alleviate symptoms and treatment side effects in cancer patients. OBJECTIVES: To compare the effects of music therapy or music medicine interventions and standard care with standard care alone, or standard care and other interventions in patients with cancer. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 10), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, LILACS, Science Citation Index, CancerLit, www.musictherapyworld.net, CAIRSS, Proquest Digital Dissertations, ClinicalTrials.gov, Current Controlled Trials, and the National Research Register. All databases were searched from their start date to September 2010. We handsearched music therapy journals and reference lists and contacted experts. There was no language restriction. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-randomized trials of music interventions for improving psychological and physical outcomes in patients with cancer. Participants undergoing biopsy and aspiration for diagnostic purposes were excluded. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently extracted the data and assessed the risk of bias. Where possible, results were presented in meta analyses using mean differences and standardized mean differences. Post-test scores were used. In cases of significant baseline difference, we used change scores. MAIN RESULTS: We included 30 trials with a total of 1891 participants. We included music therapy interventions, offered by trained music therapists, as well as listening to pre-recorded music, offered by medical staff. The results suggest that music interventions may have a beneficial effect on anxiety in people with cancer, with a reported average anxiety reduction of 11.20 units (95% confidence interval (CI) -19.59 to -2.82, P = 0.009) on the STAI-S scale and -0.61 standardized units (95% CI -0.97 to -0.26, P = 0.0007) on other anxiety scales. Results also suggested a positive impact on mood (standardised mean difference (SMD) = 0.42, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.81, P = 0.03), but no support was found for depression.Music interventions may lead to small reductions in heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. A moderate pain-reducing effect was found (SMD = -0.59, 95% CI -0.92 to -0.27, P = 0.0003), but no strong evidence was found for enhancement of fatigue or physical status. The pooled estimate of two trials suggested a beneficial effect of music therapy on patients' quality of life (QoL) (SMD = 1.02, 95% CI 0.58 to 1.47, P = 0.00001).No conclusions could be drawn regarding the effect of music interventions on distress, body image, oxygen saturation level, immunologic functioning, spirituality, and communication outcomes.Seventeen trials used listening to pre-recorded music and 13 trials used music therapy interventions that actively engaged the patients. Not all studies included the same outcomes and due to the small number of studies per outcome, we could not compare the effectiveness of music medicine interventions with that of music therapy interventions. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review indicates that music interventions may have beneficial effects on anxiety, pain, mood, and QoL in people with cancer. Furthermore, music may have a small effect on heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. Most trials were at high risk of bias and, therefore, these results need to be interpreted with caution.

Music interventions for mechanically ventilated patients.

BACKGROUND: Mechanical ventilation often causes major distress and anxiety in patients. Music interventions have been used to reduce anxiety and distress and improve physiological functioning in medical patients; however its efficacy for mechanically ventilated patients needs to be evaluated. OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of music interventions with standard care versus standard care alone on anxiety and physiological responses in mechanically ventilated patients. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 1), MEDLINE, CINAHL, AMED, EMBASE, PsycINFO, LILACS, Science Citation Index, www.musictherapyworld.net, CAIRSS for Music, Proquest Digital Dissertations, ClinicalTrials.gov, Current Controlled Trials, the National Research Register, and NIH CRISP (all to January 2010). We handsearched music therapy journals and reference lists and contacted relevant experts to identify unpublished manuscripts. There was no language restriction. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included all randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials that compared music interventions and standard care with standard care alone for mechanically ventilated patients. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently extracted the data and assessed the methodological quality. Additional information was sought from the trial researchers, when necessary. Results were presented using mean differences for outcomes measured by the same scale and standardized mean differences for outcomes measured by different scales. Post-test scores were used. In cases of significant baseline difference, we used change scores. MAIN RESULTS: We included eight trials (213 participants). Music listening was the main intervention used, and seven of the studies did not include a trained music therapist. Results indicated that music listening may be beneficial for anxiety reduction in mechanically ventilated patients; however, these results need to be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size. Findings indicated that listening to music consistently reduced heart rate and respiratory rate, suggesting a relaxation response. No strong evidence was found for blood pressure reduction.Music listening did not improve oxygen saturation level.No studies could be found that examined the effects of music interventions on quality of life, patient satisfaction, post-discharge outcomes, mortality, or cost-effectiveness. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Music listening may have a beneficial effect on heart rate, respiratory rate, and anxiety in mechanically ventilated patients. However, the quality of the evidence is not strong. Most studies examined the effects of listening to pre-recorded music. More research is needed on the effects of music offered by a trained music therapist.

The markers of interplay between the music therapist and the high risk full term infant.

The purpose of this research was to discover the markers of interplay between the music therapist and the medically fragile newborn infant. Video footage of 3 infants was selected to exemplify 3 significant events in the therapeutic process. Four expert reviewers viewed the footage and completed a video-cued discussion with the therapist/ researcher. Reviews and discussions were collated with the therapist-researcher's post-session notes to create rich descriptions from which the articulated and inferred behaviors of both therapist and infant were thematically analyzed. The outcome was 14 sets of behaviors used by the medically fragile newborn infants to indicate availability for interplay and 20 sets of behaviors the therapist used in response to the infants. The interaction between these behaviors provided 7 markers of interplay between the music therapist and the medically fragile newborn infant.

Music therapy CD creation for initial pediatric radiation therapy: a mixed methods analysis.

A mixed methods research design was used to investigate the effects of a music therapy CD (MTCD) creation intervention on pediatric oncology patients' distress and coping during their first radiation therapy treatment. The music therapy method involved children creating a music CD using interactive computer-based music software, which was "remixed" by the music therapist-researcher to extend the musical material. Eleven pediatric radiation therapy outpatients aged 6 to 13 years were randomly assigned to either an experimental group, in which they could create a music CD prior to their initial treatment to listen to during radiation therapy, or to a standard care group. Quantitative and qualitative analyses generated multiple perceptions from the pediatric patients, parents, radiation therapy staff, and music therapist-researcher. Ratings of distress during initial radiation therapy treatment were low for all children. The comparison between the two groups found that 67% of the children in the standard care group used social withdrawal as a coping strategy, compared to 0% of the children in the music therapy group; this trend approached significance (p = 0.076). MTCD creation was a fun, engaging, and developmentally appropriate intervention for pediatric patients, which offered a positive experience and aided their use of effective coping strategies to meet the demands of their initial radiation therapy treatment.

The effect of group music therapy on quality of life for participants living with a severe and enduring mental illness.

A 10-week group music therapy project was designed to determine whether music therapy influenced quality of life and social anxiety for people with a severe and enduring mental illness living in the community. Ten one-hour weekly sessions including song singing, song writing and improvisation, culminated in each group recording original song/s in a professional studio. The principal outcome measure was the WHOQOLBREF Quality of Life (QoL) Scale; other instruments used were the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Qualitative data were gathered through focus group interviews and an analysis of lyric themes. Statistically significant improvement was found on five items of the QoL Scale. There were no changes on the BSI indicating that QoL improvement was not mediated by symptomatic change. Themes from the focus groups were: music therapy gave joy and pleasure, working as a team was beneficial, participants were pleasantly surprised at their creativity, and they took pride in their song. An analysis of song lyrics resulted in 6 themes: a concern for the world, peace and the environment; living with mental illness is difficult; coping with mental illness requires strength; religion and spirituality are sources of support; living in the present is healing; and working as a team is enjoyable.

"Telling me not to worry " Hyperscanning and Neural Dynamics of Emotion Processing During Guided Imagery and Music.

To analyze how emotions and imagery are shared, processed and recognized in Guided Imagery and Music, we measured the brain activity of an experienced therapist ("Guide") and client ("Traveler") with dual-EEG in a real therapy session about potential death of family members. Synchronously with the EEG, the session was video-taped and then micro-analyzed. Four raters identified therapeutically important moments of interest (MOI) and no-interest (MONI) which were transcribed and annotated. Several indices of emotion- and imagery-related processing were analyzed: frontal and parietal alpha asymmetry, frontal midline theta, and occipital alpha activity. Session ratings showed overlaps across all raters, confirming the importance of these MOIs, which showed different cortical activity in visual areas compared to resting-state. MOI 1 was a pivotal moment including an important imagery with a message of hope from a close family member, while in the second MOI the Traveler sent a message to an unborn baby. Generally, results seemed to indicate that the emotions of Traveler and Guide during important moments were not positive, pleasurably or relaxed when compared to resting-state, confirming both were dealing with negative emotions and anxiety that had to be contained in the interpersonal process. However, the temporal dynamics of emotion-related markers suggested shifts in emotional valence and intensity during these important, personally meaningful moments; for example, during receiving the message of hope, an increase of frontal alpha asymmetry was observed, reflecting increased positive emotional processing. EEG source localization during the message suggested a peak activation in left middle temporal gyrus. Interestingly, peaks in emotional markers in the Guide partly paralleled the Traveler's peaks; for example, during the Guide's strong feeling of mutuality in MOI 2, the time series of frontal alpha asymmetries showed a significant cross-correlation, indicating similar emotional processing in Traveler and Guide. Investigating the moment-to-moment interaction in music therapy showed how asymmetry peaks align with the situated cognition of Traveler and Guide along the emotional contour of the music, representing the highs and lows during the therapy process. Combining dual-EEG with detailed audiovisual and qualitative data seems to be a promising approach for further research into music therapy.

The effect of music therapy on anxiety in patients who are terminally ill.

BACKGROUND: The literature supporting the use of music therapy in palliative care is growing. However, the number of quantitative research studies investigating the use of music therapy in palliative care, and specifically anxiety, is limited. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research project was to examine the effectiveness of a single music therapy session in reducing anxiety for terminally ill patients. DESIGN: A randomized-controlled design was implemented and the following hypotheses tested. There will be a significant difference between the experimental and control groups on anxiety levels as demonstrated by the anxiety measurement of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS), and heart rate. The experimental group received a single music therapy intervention and the control group received a volunteer visit. SETTING/SUBJECTS: Twenty-five participants with end-stage terminal disease receiving inpatient hospice services were recruited. RESULTS: The first hypothesis was supported. Results demonstrated a significant reduction in anxiety for the experimental group on the anxiety measurement of the ESAS (p = 0.005). A post hoc analysis found significant reductions in other measurements on the ESAS in the experimental group, specifically pain (p = 0.019), tiredness (p = 0.024) and drowsiness (p = 0.018). The second hypothesis was not supported. CONCLUSIONS: The study supports the use of music therapy to manage anxiety in terminally ill patients. Further studies are required to examine the effect of music therapy over a longer time period, as well as addressing other symptom issues.

Bereaved parents' experiences of music therapy with their terminally ill child.

The purpose of this study was to investigate bereaved parents' experiences of music therapy with their terminally ill child. In-depth interviews were conducted with 7 bereaved parents who were recruited through a community-based palliative care program. The parent participants' experiences varied as their children who received music therapy ranged in ages from 5 months to 12 years old. The interview transcripts were analyzed using phenomenological strategies. Five global themes emerged from the analysis. These included (a) music therapy was valued as a means of altering the child's and family's perception of their situation in the midst of adversity, (b) music therapy was a significant component of remembrance, (c) music therapy was a multifaceted experience for the child and family, (d) music therapy enhanced communication and expression, and (e) parents shared perceptions of and recommendations for improving music therapy services. These emergent themes yield knowledge into the relevance of music therapy within pediatric palliative care.

Is there a role for music therapy in the care of the severely mentally ill?

OBJECTIVE: The role of music therapy in psychiatric care in Australia is briefly traced from the early 1990s to the present. With the shift to community-based care, contemporary music therapy practice for the severely mentally ill is reappraised alongside the principles of the recovery model. CONCLUSIONS: Music therapy is a viable option within the creative arts therapies for enhancing quality of life in people with severe and enduring mental illness.

Music therapy for early cognitive rehabilitation post-childhood TBI: an intrinsic mixed methods case study.

OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this case study was to explore the behavioural changes of a paediatric patient in post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) during a music therapy session. A secondary objective was to measure the effect of the music therapy intervention on agitation. METHOD: Video data from pre, during and post-music therapy sessions were collected and analysed using video micro-analysis and the Agitated Behaviour Scale. RESULTS: The participant displayed four discrete categories of behaviours: Neutral, Acceptance, Recruitment and Rejection. Further analysis revealed brief but consistent and repeated periods of awareness and responsiveness to the live singing of familiar songs, which were classified as Islands of Awareness. Song offered an Environment of Potential to maximise these periods of emerging consciousness. The quantitative data analysis yielded inconclusive results in determining if music therapy was effective in reducing agitation during and immediately post the music therapy sessions. CONCLUSION: The process of micro-analysis illuminated four discrete participant behaviours not apparent in the immediate clinical setting. The results of this case suggest that the use of familiar song as a music therapy intervention may harness early patient responsiveness to foster cognitive rehabilitation in the early acute phase post-TBI.

Effect of self-selected music on adults' anxiety and subjective experiences during initial radiotherapy treatment: a randomised controlled trial and qualitative research.

INTRODUCTION: Patients may experience radiotherapy as anxiety provoking, especially during unfamiliar initial treatment. This study examines whether patients' use of self-selected music while undergoing first radiotherapy treatment reduces anxiety, and how patients describe their first radiotherapy experience with or without self-selected music. METHODS: Using quantitative and qualitative methods, 100 participants preparing to commence radiotherapy were assigned to the initial radiotherapy session either with self-selected music or without music. In both participant groups, the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory measured pre- and post-radiotherapy levels, music preference questions examined future music desires during treatment and a semistructured questionnaire examined additional subjective experiences. RESULTS: Overall, participants were not highly anxious pre-radiotherapy, anxiety decreased in both music and control groups following radiotherapy (P = 0.008) and this change was not different between groups (P = 0.35). However, music group participants were significantly more likely to want music in future radiotherapy sessions (P = 0.007). Some reported a benefit from the music in terms of feeling supported, distracted or that treatment time seemed faster. Participants in both groups often commended helpful staff. Negative reactions were only occasional. CONCLUSIONS: Although preferred music does not reduce anxiety, it can support some patients undergoing initial radiotherapy and departmental staff should invite patients to bring music to radiotherapy, provide music libraries and offer to play patient selected music during treatments.