Music Therapy Research

Youth living within low-resource communities are at a greater risk for poorer socio-emotional development. A youth’s socio-emotional competence includes their ability to use one’s skills and knowledge for navigation within different environments, interactions with others, and adapting to expectations. Music therapy clinicians often serve children and youth who have experienced threats to their adaptation resulting from exposure to social, cultural, or economic stressors. Pasiali and Clark decided to examine the potential benefit a music therapy social skills development program may have on improving social skills and academic performance of school-aged children who have limited resources in afterschool programs.

Music therapy has an effect on many areas of one’s functioning. These areas include cognition, physicality, communication, social interaction, and emotional wellness. When someone experiences a stroke or traumatic brain injury (TBI), these areas can be impacted greatly, and music therapy can be a method of support as well as rehabilitation. This article states that at the time, there was little research in the stroke and TBI realm, but there were other studies that assessed positive effects for other populations. This article quotes another study in 1992 by MacRae Statine, “Because music is laden with emotional associations and memories, it provides an effective medium for evoking emotional responses. This study specifically addresses “whether music therapy is effective as an aid to enhance a patient’s mood, social interaction, and involvement in therapy during acute rehabilitation”. 

Direct Care Staff (DCS) are the “front line” of care for many.  If someone is in a facility or even in a home, the DCS staff is there 24/7 taking care of a variety of needs.  Caregiving is hard work, but many in this field are dedicated to making sure the individuals they are taking care of receive the best of care.  As a therapist seeing clients and patients in a variety of settings, I often turn to the DCS to ask how the client is doing, especially if their expressive language is difficult to understand or the ability to communicate has been compromised.

Researchers Staab and Dvorak interviewed five DCS who work specifically with older adults who have intellectual disabilities.  The purpose of this study was to record and document their perception of the benefits of music therapy for their clients because these DCS participate in music therapy with their client.  Also, the facility where the DCS work acts as a fieldwork placement for music therapy students who attend a local university near the facility.  

In a pediatric rehabilitation setting, Leung (2008) collaborated with a Speech-Language Pathologist in the case of an 11-year-old male, Sam, who sustained severe injuries from a collision with a barbed wire fence while riding a four-wheel motorcycle. Due to the severity of Sam’s injuries, he was referred to Leung for improved verbal articulation and communication by the speech-language pathologist. Using a co-treatment collaboration model, the music therapist and speech-language pathologist used song singing and drum and vocal improvisation.

A lot has changed within this past year regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. “The European Paediatric Association-Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations (EPA-UNEPSA) has established a collaborative working group with key Chinese academic institutions and medical centers with the purpose of facilitating the reciprocal exchange of information and sharing scientific knowledge,” (Jiao, et. al., 2020). The purpose of this group is to raise awareness to children’s psychological needs during epidemics and report early data collected.

Children are affected by the COVID-19 epidemic by experiencing fears, uncertainties, and physical and social isolation. A study conducted in Shaanxi Province in February 2020 was that the most common psychological and behavioral problems in children ages 3-18 were clinginess, distraction, irritability, and fear of asking questions about the epidemic. This was conducted by an online survey that also addressed poor sleep, poor appetite, physical discomfort, agitation and inattention, clinginess, and separation problems. This study’s intention was not to diagnose but to screen for disorders as a “first step approach”. “Understanding their reactions and emotions is essential to properly address their needs,” (Jiao, et. al., 2020).

Continue Reading!

This study was published in 2011 by Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, Korea! It is a private research university, and one of three SKY universities, which are widely regarded as the most prestigious in the country. The purpose of this study was to “investigate the effects of music therapy on depressive mood and anxiety in post-stroke patients and evaluate satisfaction levels of patients and caregivers.”

The study states, “Music therapy appears to affect physiological phenomena such as blood pressure, heartbeat, respiration, and mydriasis as well as emotional aspects such as mood and feelings.” Oxford Dictionary defines mydriasis as the dilation of the pupils of the eyes. Other side effects of music include change of respiratory rhythm, relaxation of muscular stiffness, and decrease in heart rate, blood pressure, depression, and anxiety. 

Alzheimer’s Disease has no cure and is a degenerative disease that causes cognitive and behavioral impairments. Depression and anxiety are symptoms that are often experienced with Alzheimer’s Disease. When anxious or stressed, levels of cortisol increased in blood, saliva, sweat, hair, and urine. In, “Does Music Therapy improve Anxiety and Depression in Alzheimer’s Patients?”, De La Rubia Orti, et al look into if music therapy can reduce cortisol levels in Alzheimer’s patients.

Once again, if you have been following my blogs on the Central Ohio Music Therapy, LLC website or our Facebook page, you are familiar with my dual role as a music therapist and music educator.  Having to conduct music therapy sessions virtually (and usually with only 1 – 4 patients at the most), I was fascinated to learn what challenges music educators had with trying to teach virtually and have a full classroom!  This article looks at what music educators learned during the COVID-19 virtual learning school year in 2020 – 2021.  

Draper’s article was written just prior to the vaccine rollout and discusses the importance of getting students with developmental disabilities vaccinated.  Knowing that these students often have other health issues, the focus, as with the shut down and remote learning, was to keep everyone as safe as possible.

Living with a child with anxiety can be stressful for the caregivers, siblings, and other professionals interacting with the child. Without treatment, these behaviors can extend into adulthood so intervention should occur as early as the behaviors appear. Current treatments include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, pharmacological treatment, or a combination of these treatments. Music therapy is a non-invasive and safe way to help children manage their anxiety. This therapy is hands on and gives children an alternative method to communicate their feelings, which children may have trouble conveying through words. 

Goldbeck & Ellerkamp (2012) conducted a study of children ages eight to twelve diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Individual and group  music therapy sessions were conducted and included guided relaxation interventions, structured instrument play, and painting to music. Activities were aimed towards helping children identifying emotions, identifying when they need to relax, and how to use music to relax. Parent training sessions also occurred. Reoccurrences of anxiety were significantly less after music therapy group as opposed to the traditional intervention group. Results indicated that music therapy may be more appealing to children who are reluctant to participate in traditional verbal therapy. 

Music therapy is common on medical/surgical units, Intensive Care Units, etc. but is less common in surgical areas of the hospital. Because music therapy is less common in this area, Lane, Palmer, & Chen (2019) conducted a survey study to see what the perception of music and music therapy are amongst hospital staff, patients, and families involved in surgery. 

The benefits of music therapy for people living with dementia have been studied time and time again. Music therapy can facilitate mood elevation and relaxation, maintain motor skills, promote increased socialization and engagement, and provide opportunities for reminiscence. Reminiscence is defined as recalling memories from your past, either actively or passively. Music therapists who work with this population have always used a participant’s preferred music to evoke memories and emotions that may arise from hearing a beloved song. Music therapists can use a variety of interventions with individuals with dementia to work on the goal of reminiscence, including song discussion, therapeutic singing, and therapeutic songwriting. Music therapy groups in an eldercare setting are also becoming increasingly common, with group interventions such as improvisation and group songwriting still focusing on the goal of reminiscence. 

The researchers conducting this study gathered data from five themed sessions. These themes included “Spirituality,” “Autumn,” “Christmas,” “Childhood,” and “Going to Dances” with songs that focused on these themes. Participants included five female residents of a long-term residential care facility. Each session followed a similar structure of discussion, singing of a familiar, using items with the intention of sparking memories (i.e. passing a Rosary during the “Spiritual” group) and letting each participant interact with the items if they would like, repeating the chorus of the familiar song, and then repeating the order again. There were 4 songs, each with a new item, per session.

Dementia, and its various forms, is a disease that often changes the personality of the individual, which may include agitation, wandering, and other behaviors that are difficult to manage in the home.  Caregivers are challenged to deal with these symptoms and sometimes have to resort to moving their loved one to a facility. Over the years I have worked with individuals diagnosed with various forms of dementia in both home settings and in facilities.  Music therapy has proven over and over to be a positive form of therapy that can redirect unpleasant behaviors and give caregivers an opportunity to share a special time with their loved one.

There is an abundance of published research about the field of neonatal intensive care (NICU) music therapy. Multiple articles have been reviewed right here, on the COMT blog. In May, I attended the clinical fieldwork portion of the National Institute for Infant & Child Medical Music Therapy at Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. Over the course of two days, I got hands-on experience implementing music therapy interventions on the most fragile humans, premature infants or infants born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (when a baby is withdrawing from drug exposure in the womb). Months before these clinical hours in the hospital, I attended the lecture portion of the Institute, in Dallas, Texas, hearing from clinicians who have been working in this population for decades, including Jayne Standley, distinguished researcher and creator of the PAL (Pacifier Activated Lullaby) system, Darcy Walworth, author and creator of the Bright Start Music program and Michael Detmer, NICU researcher and adjunct faculty professor at the University of Louisville. 

Continue Reading