Under the Big Top: Building... by Daniel Tague
Showing posts with label medical music therapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medical music therapy. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Under the Big Top: Building a Successful Integrative Care Program
Sunday, December 1, 2013
More fun with Remo Drums! The Aroma Drum!
Okay, you caught me! I spent a lot of time at the Remo booth at the national conference for the American Music Therapy Association last week in Jacksonville!
The Aroma Drum is not new. It has actually been around for several years. But, recently, I began investigating essential oils like the ones used in the Aroma Drum. The Aroma Drum comes with four different essential oil diffuser packs: lavender, pink grapefruit, patchouli and eucalyptus. You can see the drum up close in this video. Although the video is a bit contrived, it does get the point across!
I used to think that the aromatherapy component of the drum was just a nice gimmick, but I have discovered that some of the essential oils may have statistically provable anxiolytic effects. My investigation so far has revealed that the lavender essential oil may be the most widely and historically used oil for stress relief.
One randomized controlled study, by Sultani et al. (2013), found that post-tonsillectomy pediatric patients used significantly less acetaminophen (Tylenol) than a control group. In another study, dental patients spent time inhaling lavender while waiting for treatment (Kritsidima, Newton, & Asimakopoulou, 2010). The patients who waited under the influence of lavender aromatherapy had significantly lower state anxiety levels.
These are just two of many studies relative to lavender essential oil. In light of the growing research base that confirms historical and anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness of essential oils, I find the combination of essential oils and drumming a wonderful partnership!
Unlike the lady in the video,however, I think the Aroma Drum used in a drum circle setting might be more effective, especially inside, where the scent could be more concentrated. A drum circle setting where a drum leader or facilitator would be walking around and waving the drum might more easily diffuse the lavender aroma.
In any case, I think this drum is worth checking out! It is sold by itself or as a set with an accompanying CD and stress management guide. You can also purchase refill packs of the essential oils. Let me know if anyone out there has used one for yourself or in therapy. I am interested to know your thoughts!
Happy drumming!
Kritsidima, M., Newton, T., and Asimakopoulou, K. (2010). The effects of lavender scent on dental patient anxiety levels: A cluster randomised-control trial. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 38, 83-87.
Soltani, R., Soheilipour, S., Hajhashemi V., Asghari, G., Bagheri, M., and Molavi, M. (2013). Evaluation of the effect of aromatherapy with lavender essential oil on post-tonsillectomy pain in pediatric patients: A randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 77, 1579-1581.
*Music Makes Sense is now part of the Blogdash network.
The Aroma Drum is not new. It has actually been around for several years. But, recently, I began investigating essential oils like the ones used in the Aroma Drum. The Aroma Drum comes with four different essential oil diffuser packs: lavender, pink grapefruit, patchouli and eucalyptus. You can see the drum up close in this video. Although the video is a bit contrived, it does get the point across!
I used to think that the aromatherapy component of the drum was just a nice gimmick, but I have discovered that some of the essential oils may have statistically provable anxiolytic effects. My investigation so far has revealed that the lavender essential oil may be the most widely and historically used oil for stress relief.
One randomized controlled study, by Sultani et al. (2013), found that post-tonsillectomy pediatric patients used significantly less acetaminophen (Tylenol) than a control group. In another study, dental patients spent time inhaling lavender while waiting for treatment (Kritsidima, Newton, & Asimakopoulou, 2010). The patients who waited under the influence of lavender aromatherapy had significantly lower state anxiety levels.
These are just two of many studies relative to lavender essential oil. In light of the growing research base that confirms historical and anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness of essential oils, I find the combination of essential oils and drumming a wonderful partnership!
Unlike the lady in the video,however, I think the Aroma Drum used in a drum circle setting might be more effective, especially inside, where the scent could be more concentrated. A drum circle setting where a drum leader or facilitator would be walking around and waving the drum might more easily diffuse the lavender aroma.
In any case, I think this drum is worth checking out! It is sold by itself or as a set with an accompanying CD and stress management guide. You can also purchase refill packs of the essential oils. Let me know if anyone out there has used one for yourself or in therapy. I am interested to know your thoughts!
Happy drumming!
Kritsidima, M., Newton, T., and Asimakopoulou, K. (2010). The effects of lavender scent on dental patient anxiety levels: A cluster randomised-control trial. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 38, 83-87.
Soltani, R., Soheilipour, S., Hajhashemi V., Asghari, G., Bagheri, M., and Molavi, M. (2013). Evaluation of the effect of aromatherapy with lavender essential oil on post-tonsillectomy pain in pediatric patients: A randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 77, 1579-1581.
*Music Makes Sense is now part of the Blogdash network.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Adding my Voice to the Voices of the Sea
American Music Therapy Association National Conference
Jacksonville, FL
November 20-24, 2014
I will have the opportunity to speak three times at this year's national conference for music therapy.
Here is a sneak preview:
November 20, 2013
12:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Institute: Medical Music Therapy for Infants & Children
*Chair: Jayne M. Standley, PhD, MT-BC
* I will participate in this institute by explaining some of the effects of the Affordable Care Act on healthcare for Women and Children.
Friday, November 22, 2013
7:30 AM to 9:00 AM
Deciphering the Affordable Care Act:
Implications, Perceptions, and Current Knowledge within Music Therapy
Elisa Aven, MT-BC; Daniel Tague, PhD, MT-BC
Saturday, November 23, 2013
10:45 AM to 12:15 PM
21st Century Tools for Educators and Supervisors: There's an
App for That!
Abbey Dvorak, PhD, MT-BC; Daniel Tague, PhD,
MT-BC
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Obamacare: The Effect of the Affordable Care Act on Music Therapy, Part Ia
If you haven't read Part I, you can find it here.
(...my apologies in advance-- while I am trying to clear away the mud so that we can figure out the essence of what exactly is the ACA, there are so many facets to the proposal that it looks like it will take me more than a three part series to simplify what is going on. I realize this may be disheartening(!), but I hope you will stick with me through this process as it is an extremely important topic. I promise to keep things as simple as possible, yet provide links for more in depth study. I am also trying to steer away from the politics or linking to multiple opinions about projected outcomes.)
Part I update:
Here is my answer to a reader's question (Please explain #15 further, since this applies to myself and many Music Therapists like me) about item #15 ($716 billion in cuts to Medicare):
Here is a very good explanation from the Washington Post, although I don't think it will necessarily answer your question about how specific therapies might be impacted:
The big chunks are basically taken out of Medicare by lowering the annual increase of payments to hospitals and facilities and eliminating overpayments to the Medicare Advantage program (a private insurance program some seniors can choose to join instead of being served by the Medicare program itself.)
A little more detail is here:
You will notice that Mr. Frakt is also worried about the large cut to annual increases in Medicare to hospitals and other facilities. I would suspect that this might be the most important one for us to consider since music therapy services are sometimes lumped into the billing of services "per day" for a patient in order to receive a slightly higher reimbursement "per day" for a patient. So, even though music therapy is not often directly billed to Medicare, it can increase the reimbursement amount by a little bit per day if it is included correctly in the billing. Since most facilities don't rely on this reimbursement to fund music therapy, it is unlikely that music therapy would be cut as a result of the decrease in money from the ACA. However, it has been nice to be able to show that music therapy does sometimes contribute to a higher pay out in reimbursement.
And just in case it is not confusing enough, some people say that the cuts are not really "cuts" and that they will save Medicare rather than hurt it:
Let's keep investigating! The scary thing is that nobody seems to know what is really in the law or what is going to happen! Maybe next time they can get this all figured out before passing it into law.
Understanding the "doc fix." (Don't you just love all the little nicknames for things! e.g., Obamacare, fiscal cliff, ...doc fix, etc.! What will they come up with next??!)
The "doc fix" is really a yearly "fix" of the problem created by Medicaid only paying about 34% less than Medicare to doctors and hospitals. As you can imagine, this would lead to many physicians not wanting to treat patients on Medicaid. So every year, congress passes a temporary law to increase Medicaid payments to match the levels in Medicare. (Note: Medicare payments to doctors and hospitals are still generally lower than private insurance payments). The ACA has put in place a temporary "doc fix" for 2013 and 2014. After that, individual states would be responsible for the additional cost to keep Medicaid from scaling back its payments. (For details about the "doc fix" issue you can go here.)
Incidentally, since I mentioned the so-called "fiscal cliff", we will have to keep an eye on the negotiations between the President and the House of Representatives. It has been reported that the ACA has been put on the table as a bargaining chip in the process.
In timely fashion (only 32 months after passing Obamacare!) the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the guidelines for states to set up the new health care exchanges.
Basically, these guidelines lay out what insurers will be allowed to charge for people who smoke or who are older. The guidelines also explain minimum coverage rules and explanations about the new push for preventative healthcare and wellness programs. Specific lists are in links below:
Okay, this should be enough of a groundwork for us to tackle next time what the impact of ACA might be on music therapy. I'll be back later this week with that analysis! As always, please let me know if I have missed something important, and keep the personal stories and questions coming here and on Facebook. Thanks for reading and I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!
(...my apologies in advance-- while I am trying to clear away the mud so that we can figure out the essence of what exactly is the ACA, there are so many facets to the proposal that it looks like it will take me more than a three part series to simplify what is going on. I realize this may be disheartening(!), but I hope you will stick with me through this process as it is an extremely important topic. I promise to keep things as simple as possible, yet provide links for more in depth study. I am also trying to steer away from the politics or linking to multiple opinions about projected outcomes.)
Part I update:
Here is my answer to a reader's question (Please explain #15 further, since this applies to myself and many Music Therapists like me) about item #15 ($716 billion in cuts to Medicare):
Here is a very good explanation from the Washington Post, although I don't think it will necessarily answer your question about how specific therapies might be impacted:
The big chunks are basically taken out of Medicare by lowering the annual increase of payments to hospitals and facilities and eliminating overpayments to the Medicare Advantage program (a private insurance program some seniors can choose to join instead of being served by the Medicare program itself.)
A little more detail is here:
You will notice that Mr. Frakt is also worried about the large cut to annual increases in Medicare to hospitals and other facilities. I would suspect that this might be the most important one for us to consider since music therapy services are sometimes lumped into the billing of services "per day" for a patient in order to receive a slightly higher reimbursement "per day" for a patient. So, even though music therapy is not often directly billed to Medicare, it can increase the reimbursement amount by a little bit per day if it is included correctly in the billing. Since most facilities don't rely on this reimbursement to fund music therapy, it is unlikely that music therapy would be cut as a result of the decrease in money from the ACA. However, it has been nice to be able to show that music therapy does sometimes contribute to a higher pay out in reimbursement.
And just in case it is not confusing enough, some people say that the cuts are not really "cuts" and that they will save Medicare rather than hurt it:
Let's keep investigating! The scary thing is that nobody seems to know what is really in the law or what is going to happen! Maybe next time they can get this all figured out before passing it into law.
Understanding the "doc fix." (Don't you just love all the little nicknames for things! e.g., Obamacare, fiscal cliff, ...doc fix, etc.! What will they come up with next??!)
The "doc fix" is really a yearly "fix" of the problem created by Medicaid only paying about 34% less than Medicare to doctors and hospitals. As you can imagine, this would lead to many physicians not wanting to treat patients on Medicaid. So every year, congress passes a temporary law to increase Medicaid payments to match the levels in Medicare. (Note: Medicare payments to doctors and hospitals are still generally lower than private insurance payments). The ACA has put in place a temporary "doc fix" for 2013 and 2014. After that, individual states would be responsible for the additional cost to keep Medicaid from scaling back its payments. (For details about the "doc fix" issue you can go here.)
Incidentally, since I mentioned the so-called "fiscal cliff", we will have to keep an eye on the negotiations between the President and the House of Representatives. It has been reported that the ACA has been put on the table as a bargaining chip in the process.
In timely fashion (only 32 months after passing Obamacare!) the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the guidelines for states to set up the new health care exchanges.
Basically, these guidelines lay out what insurers will be allowed to charge for people who smoke or who are older. The guidelines also explain minimum coverage rules and explanations about the new push for preventative healthcare and wellness programs. Specific lists are in links below:
- Essential Benefits (Including rehabilitative services and devices, wellness services and pediatric oral and vision care.)
- Tiered Benefit Plans (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze: Platinum pays 90%, Gold 80%, Silver 70%, Bronze 60%)
- Wellness Programs
Okay, this should be enough of a groundwork for us to tackle next time what the impact of ACA might be on music therapy. I'll be back later this week with that analysis! As always, please let me know if I have missed something important, and keep the personal stories and questions coming here and on Facebook. Thanks for reading and I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Across my virtual desk...
Hi everyone!
So many things going on right now, it is difficult to quantify! I don't want you to miss several things that are very current. I will also write more later about the music therapy conference going on in Chicago at the end of this week, so check back soon!
So many things going on right now, it is difficult to quantify! I don't want you to miss several things that are very current. I will also write more later about the music therapy conference going on in Chicago at the end of this week, so check back soon!
- If you happen to be one of the lucky ones making it to national conference this year, let's all wish ourselves luck with the transportation to and from the airport to the conference hotel!! :)
- Once I make it to the conference, you will be able to find me at the exhibit hall with the Shenandoah University booth, or at the research poster session, or at my concurrent session presentation on Friday from 7:30 - 9:00 am. Early!
- Last year, Ben Folds made a big splash at the conference through twitter and by showing up in person! This year he is out with a new album. Some of the profits will go to support music education and music therapy!!
- You may remember that this year we are doing a sound scape during opening session! Did you also remember to go and download the sound clips? Go here and be ready for Christine Stevens, music therapist extraordinaire, and the live experience!
- Just in time for our national conference, TED talks released a wonderful talk by Robert Gupta regarding music and medicine. I have mentioned Mr. Gupta before, a wonderful violinist and advocate for music therapy!
- I also wanted to highlight some great music therapy being done by a friend of mine, Laura Cornelius. Here is the write-up at the Florida Sun Sentinel. Hurray Laura!
Things are really moving fast out there in the world of music therapy! Get your twitter feeds ready to go! I haven't even mentioned the big meetings going on this year about moving music therapy to a master's level entry! I will write more about that later...
I will catch up with you in Chicago! Music just makes sense!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Music Lifting Spirits Among Patients with Cancer
This story is not about a music therapist, but definitely about someone who is using music in a therapeutic and uplifting way.
Charlie Lustman is a cancer survivor who is giving back to others some of the care and spirit that helped him get through his own illness. I love his colorful guitar and commitment to visiting so many cancer centers around the country to help inspire patients! He has written an entire album of songs about his fight with cancer and you would never know that he lost half of his jaw due to Osteo Sarcoma.
You can read the story or watch the video news story here.
Charlie Lustman is a cancer survivor who is giving back to others some of the care and spirit that helped him get through his own illness. I love his colorful guitar and commitment to visiting so many cancer centers around the country to help inspire patients! He has written an entire album of songs about his fight with cancer and you would never know that he lost half of his jaw due to Osteo Sarcoma.
You can read the story or watch the video news story here.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
The Mood-Music Conundrum
Judith Pinkerton is a music therapist who also hosts the Music 4 Life Radio Show on iTunes. She recently authored a blog post at Corporate Wellness Magazine highlighting music to help with anxiety and mood.
I really liked her discussion about how people tend to reinforce their current mood, even if it is an unhealthy mood. This makes sense, since we often tend to listen to music that matches our mood. Pinkerton is advocating for more of a mood music "diet", where you intentionally listen to music that reflects different moods in order to expand your mood "palate." This may help to break the cycle of reinforcing the way you feel with music and then listening to more of the same type of music because that is the way you feel!
I really liked her discussion about how people tend to reinforce their current mood, even if it is an unhealthy mood. This makes sense, since we often tend to listen to music that matches our mood. Pinkerton is advocating for more of a mood music "diet", where you intentionally listen to music that reflects different moods in order to expand your mood "palate." This may help to break the cycle of reinforcing the way you feel with music and then listening to more of the same type of music because that is the way you feel!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Music Therapy at Children's Medical Center of Dallas
I love highlighting music therapy from my home state! This news story out of Dallas played yesterday on FOX. It has been really nice to see music therapy grow at Children's Medical Center of Dallas!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Huffington Post Highlights Medical Music Therapy
Today I want to recommend that you visit Ronna Kaplan's latest article over at the Huffington Post. Ms. Kaplan has been a music therapist for over thirty years and writes an excellent series of articles for the Huffington Post!
Her latest article is all about music therapy in the hospital setting. This is a rapidly expanding area for music therapy and Ms. Kaplan's examples are well written and easy to understand. I really encourage you to send this article to friends and family! You can find the entire article here.
Her latest article is all about music therapy in the hospital setting. This is a rapidly expanding area for music therapy and Ms. Kaplan's examples are well written and easy to understand. I really encourage you to send this article to friends and family! You can find the entire article here.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Rock Band Therapy!
Rock bands are great therapy! Either listening to rock music or, in this case, playing in a rock band offers great therapeutic value!
We have a patient rock band at the psychiatric hospital where I sometimes do music therapy groups. The rock band therapy group is one of the most popular and sought after groups in the psycho-social rehabilitation program!
The following news story out of Australia truly demonstrates the value of rock band type music therapy groups.
We have a patient rock band at the psychiatric hospital where I sometimes do music therapy groups. The rock band therapy group is one of the most popular and sought after groups in the psycho-social rehabilitation program!
The following news story out of Australia truly demonstrates the value of rock band type music therapy groups.
Music - Tonic for the brain from ABC Open Ballarat on Vimeo.
The band 'Not Quiet Right' were formed during a music therapy program run by St Laurence Community Services in Ballarat.
Each member of the band suffers from either an acquired brain injury or a neurological disease.
Check out there music video clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1pMN_xwXsA
Drummer John Benson contributed his Moment Behind the Photo story for ABC Open. Watch it here: http://open.abc.net.au/projects/moment-behind-the-photo-53jq3ls/contributions/flight-path-by-john-benson-93wm9gm
Monday, March 5, 2012
GA State Senate Passes Music Therapy Licensure!
Therapy News on Twitter posted an update on the Georgia state music therapy licensure bill. It passed the Senate hearing by a vote of 33 to 17!
That is great news, but it still needs to pass the state House of Representatives. The full story is here.
That is great news, but it still needs to pass the state House of Representatives. The full story is here.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Research Shows Music Training Valuable to Older Adults
The Daily Muse
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Many years ago I was part of the Lowery Organ program for Wellness. This program encouraged learning to play the organ as a leisure skill, but also as part of a more holistic wellness program. As a music therapist, I have an intrinsic belief that active-music making can help maintain a healthy lifestyle in addition to providing some quantifiable physical results. It is really nice when the research starts to validate our clinical experience!
A new study, just released, provides further evidence that music training can help us in our older years. The research points out that not only does significant musical training in your younger years impact some skills when you are older, but that older people can also benefit from musical training at any time!
One of the more specific findings in the research was that musical training helped people to have better timing in aural-cognitive processing that helped them distinguish consonants. This skill was dramatic enough to make a difference in speech processes as well as hearing in noisy environments!
The full news story is here: Music Training has Biological Impact on Aging Process
You can find the research abstract here.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Matching Music Tempo and Physical Activity Increases Endurance
The Daily Muse
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Sports psychologist, Costas Karageorghis, at Brunel University is validating a key idea used in music therapy. The "iso" principle basically maintains that music is most effective when it is matched to the current excitement level and emotional state of a client. The music stimulus can then be used to help guide a client in the desired direction of excitement or emotion by slowly changing its characteristics.
You can find the original Graph online at National Geographic (September, 2011). Because I can only find it online in Spanish, here is the basic idea of the article:
The major categories are: Largo = resting, Andante = Walking, Allegro = Training, Presto = High-intensity training. I have no idea how they picked the song examples, but I think it was interesting to look at the songs and how they compare to each other in tempo.
Mr. Karageorghis reported that when the tempo and physical performance are well matched, an average person's endurance is prolonged. This makes sense just by thinking about how long you can stick with an aerobics or spin class routine with or without the right kind of music!
It is nice to see researchers outside of the field of music therapy picking up on this idea!
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Rap Music Vindicated!
The Daily Muse
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
I am not a huge fan of rap music, but as with any good music therapist, sometimes I have to listen to or facilitate rap music in a session. And now, a new implantable device has brought me new found respect for rap music!
Scientists have found a way to use certain low tone music waves to power a small device that monitors bodily processes! And guess what kind of music has a nice consistent bass beat!?
In the near future, your next music therapy referral may require a little extra bass!
You can find the full story here: Rap Music Powers Rhythmic Action of Medical Sensor
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Music Makes Sense Featured on All Things Healing Community
The Daily Muse
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
My post is now live at All Things Healing! You can check out the article by clicking here.
The community at All Things Healing is very supportive of music therapy. I highly recommend following their posts!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Consumerism in Healthcare: Shopping for Answers.
The Daily Muse
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
(click title for full article)
Many hospitals and health institutions have been treating patients as "consumers." This mindset seems to help institutions provide better customer service and increase the prominence of patient's rights, but as the article points out, it may be causing some breakdowns in efficient treatment.
Many music therapists work in institutions or facilities where patients are talked about as consumers. Since MTs are part of treatment teams, we should be aware of the pitfalls of pretending that patients are like regular consumers in a retail setting.
The authors of the article accurately point out that patients are not like regular consumers. They usually don't choose to "shop" at a hospital or other health facility. They are usually obtaining treatment for a problem or situation that is not of their choosing.
Many patients and families are also under stress and emotional duress. Although some people (myself included!) might consider shopping to be stressful, these people can probably choose to stop shopping or take a break to reduce their stress! The article makes a good point that you cannot expect people under stress to make clear, quick and correct decisions about their health by putting them independently in the driver's seat as a consumer.
I think that this topic is something to be considered by MTs. Can we make the decision-making process easier for patients? What kind of road-map can we provide patients to help guide them through treatment?
Monday, January 9, 2012
Aflac and Music Therapy
The Daily Muse
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
There are so many news stories these days about music therapy I can hardly keep track! What a wonderful trend! Here is a local news story out of Atlanta. I think that the video portrays really well how music therapists are often the "rock stars" in hospitals and schools. Sometimes the kids in these settings can only do small actions or participate with many limitations, but the interactions with the music therapist are incredibly significant and unique!
Friday, January 6, 2012
CBS News Highlights Music Therapy In Treatment of Gabrielle Giffords!
The Daily Muse
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Representative Gabrielle Giffords continues to make great strides in regaining her verbal abilities after the terrible shooting tragedy. Music therapy has played a significant part in her recovery and helped elevate our profession into the media spotlight. Here is an update from CBS news, including many great endorsements for using music therapy in the medical setting!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Medical Doctor Advocates for Music Therapy!
The Daily Muse
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
January is advocacy month for music therapy. Many of the music therapy blogs will be writing about the power and effectiveness of music therapy with different populations. I will join in this effort with my own post in the near future, but I thought this story combined nicely with our promotion this month.
Music therapists often do presentations and have discussions with medical professionals in their efforts to expand music therapy in hospitals and medical care. It was nice to see this doctor in Ontario pick up the torch for us!
(Article in the Standard Freeholder)
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Active Music Listening Eases Pain in New Study
The Daily Muse
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
It looks like some great new research is coming out in the Journal of Pain. A study regarding pain management for dental work found that people listening to music felt less pain. Some studies have already been showing this, but Dr. Bradshaw's research highlighted some important findings about music preference.
His research protocol encouraged patients to actively focus on the music rather than just passively listen. This active listening to music that was interesting to the patient was the most effective way to have less pain awareness.
He also found that people with high anxiety were able to greatly benefit from the music listening. I think that is an important revelation because these types of individuals can be some of the most difficult patients to treat. The news article regarding the study can be found here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
