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Music Helps Patients, Families at the End of Life
Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin are looking at ways to ease the pain and suffering experienced by patients and their families at the end of life. The practice of music thanatology, a specialty of palliative medicine or end-of-life care, helps ease some of the pain by attending to the physical and spiritual needs of the dying through live harp and voice music.
Ruth McEwen, MSW, is a licensed social worker and certified music thanatologist, one of only 50 in the world certified by music-thanatology creator and developer Therese Schroeder-Sheker through the Chalice of Repose Project. She practices at Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin, thanks to funding from the Charles E. Benidt Foundation and Greg and Mary Ann Renz.
“It’s a clinical practice with deep contemplative underpinnings,” said McEwen.
During a music vigil, usually lasting 45 minutes to an hour in the patient’s room, McEwen monitors the patient’s breathing, heart rate and more. “All along, I’m adapting the music to what’s actually happening in the moment,” McEwen said. Patients might feel relief from pain, restlessness, agitation, sleeplessness or labored breathing.
The experience also helps create space on a deeper level for patients to process what’s happening to them, McEwen said. Patients are often able to express emotions they couldn’t before, and the music can also help family members who may have difficulty letting go, especially after a loved one’s intense fight with illness.
McEwen has received only positive feedback from patients, families and staff about her vigils. One family member wrote, “During that time, the challenge of my grief was wrapped in the beauty of the experience while images of my mother, her personality, essence and being came to mind. I offer profound thanks.”
Source: Froedtert Today Date: January 2011 |