A San Antonio cancer clinic is catering to the needs of its patients, not just by providing the latest effective therapies. At the START Center for Cancer Care, one of the services involves a six-foot-tall instrument.
Cancer therapy can be frightening, time-consuming and repetitive. But in a chemo treatment room at the START center in San Antonio, patients have something unique going on in the background to help make them more comfortable. It’s harp music provided by a professional music therapist who’s been known to pull some strings. 46 to be exact.
A breast cancer survivor herself, 70-year-old Laurie Buchanan is paid by START center doctors to provide what they consider an important service.
“It’s the actual range of pitch and quality of sound, what we call timbre, that’s the nature of the sound that’s particularly therapeutic with the harp,” Buchanan explained.
Studies have shown live music has physiological effects like increased endorphins and decreased pain.
“There’s something about the harp that sends a signal to the brain to slow down the heart rate, lower the blood pressure, bringing about a much more relaxed response with less anxiety,” said Dr. Amy Lang, medical oncologist.
Ashley Jefferson is undergoing chemo for breast cancer. While she brings her iPod every time, she’s yet to turn it on while she’s here. “It was much more calm having her playing,” Jefferson described. “It is the one consistency through this. No matter how good or bad you feel, you know that you’re going to be surrounded by her music,”
You wouldn’t be able to name any of the tunes Buchanan plays, and she says it’s better that way. Her original music or improvisations don’t provoke emotional responses or memories, just a sense of peace.
“Recorded is very good, but live is much better,” Buchanan said.
She’s been playing the harp for 50 years now, 15 years in hospitals and clinics. Buchanan believes medical professionals are beginning to realize that live music can serve not just as a frill or entertainment, but true therapy.
Source: Wendy Rigby/KENS 5, San Antonio
