Armed with and a guitar and melodies ranging from gospel to country, Jennifer Trippe MMEd, MT-BC, offers soothing sounds to a small audience far from the lights of a stage. She uses music to comfort terminally ill patients with Wiregrass Hospice in Dothan, Ala., one of about 250 music therapists across the country whose practice is devoted to the end-of-life experience.

“If I see a patient has shallow breathing and is depressed,” Trippe says, “I’ll start with music that’s slow and sad-sounding in a minor key and gradually change to a major sound and quicker tempo. All of a sudden, I’ll start to see their breathing pick up.”

The patients even start singing along sometimes.

Besides humming or singing, some patients join in the performance with a simpler percussion instrument. Sometimes family members decide to listen in or use the session as a chance to relieve their own stress elsewhere. Music therapy, which helps patients with pain management and relaxation, is increasingly an element in hospice care.

According to Al Bumanis, director of communication for the American Music Therapy Association, there are currently 5,000 board-certified music therapists in the United States. “Music therapy in hospice [care] continues to trend upward, and historically mirrors the general boom in hospice care seen in the country,” he says.

In addition, there are also therapists who work in larger healthcare agencies that devote some time to working with terminally ill patients. University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital is one of the few in the Southeast to have an inpatient palliative care unit.

“Our music therapy department added a third employee due to the volume of music therapy requests from the palliative [physicians],” Sunny Davenport, a music therapist at UAB Hospital, says.

Carolyn Dobson, executive director of Hospice of the Valley in Decatur, Ala., praises UAB’s music therapy department.

“Music therapy is a valuable asset as we provide holistic care for a patient at the end of their lives,” says Dobson, who has two part-time therapists working on a contractual basis. In fact, music therapy is so successful at Dobson’s facility that families want more time with the therapist.

“It’s really important to understand that hospice care is for the patient and family,” says Joy Berger, DMA, MT-BC, director of education and volunteers at the Louisville, Ky.-based hospice care provider, Hosparus. “It’s treating the whole person – their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.”

Music not only brings relaxation. “It can help provide stimulation for someone who is bed-bound. It can help the person express emotions,” says Berger, author of Music of the Soul: Composing Life Out of Loss (Routledge, 2006).

Music therapy can also help patients remember. Berger says, “It’s especially important for a person dealing with Alzheimer’s [disease]: when memories and familiarity is so often lost. But, the right music at the right time – with the right person – can sometimes provide a moment of connection.”

For Trippe, music has been a part her life since she played the French horn in her seventh grade school band. She eventually moved on to the guitar and later learned to play the trumpet, keyboard, and percussion instruments. She planned to teach music. But after Trippe experienced the hospice care provided to her grandmothers who had cancer, she realized she could use her talents in a different way.

“I wanted to give back to people like my grandparents,” Trippe says.

Most patients typically request traditional church hymns, but Hank Williams’ songs are also popular. If a patient doesn’t have a particular request, Trippe tries to play a tune they’d like hear. “I look at when they were born and figure out when their formative years were, and I play popular songs in that time frame,” she says.

Working in hospice can lead to job burnout for some, but Trippe believes the sound of music can help alleviate work stress.

“Sometimes I play music and the patient will remember things,” she says. “They might say, ‘Oh, I haven’t heard that tune since I went out on a high school date’ All of a sudden, they’ll start crying, and it’ll be an emotional release.”

After crying, patients often have a good laugh.

“Hospice is all about the quality of life, and music adds to the quality,” Trippe says. “You find that you can comfort someone through music even if you don’t say it in words.”


Source: Amanda Thomas/Associated Press