Hospice & Music Therapy: How It Helps

When we’re well, music is such a constant part of life that we don’t often stop to consider its therapeutic potential. For hospice patients, however, regular music therapy can make an enormous difference and be a key source of comfort and peace.

Melanie Jessop, Hospice’s resident music therapist, has seen firsthand the effect that music engagement can have on patients, even those who are nonverbal or limited in communication.

“Music therapy can do everything from calming and settling breathing rates to actually encouraging expression and movement,” Melanie says. “A patient who passed recently would get up and dance to her favorite ‘60s music when I began seeing her, and I had another 97-year-old patient who would ‘dance’ to big band music even in bed.”

Melanie offers each patient a variety of instrument choices from her therapist’s bag, tailored to the type of music they like and to their care plan. She also sings. Before beginning therapy for each patient, she talks to family and the patient’s social worker to learn more about their favorite music and songs.

“Even as people are transitioning, music can have a profound effect, because we know that hearing is the last sense to go,” she says. “It can actually trigger memory in dementia patients, and it provides a sense of familiarity, comfort, and connection.”

Another key benefit of music therapy, Melanie says, is to encourage a patient’s life review, help them make sense of their memories, and build connection among families. “Even patients’ loved ones aren’t always sure what to do around a bedside, and singing and listening to music offers an activity and opportunity for connection together,” she says.

Hospice’s vibrant music therapy program is made possible by a grant from the Delaplaine Foundation, in addition to donations from friends of Hospice. To learn more, visit frederickhealthhospice. org/services/musictherapy/.