Music Therapists

These pages provide access to resources and literature relevant to the practice of palliative care for music therapists. All Australian music therapists are registered with the Australian Association of Music Therapy Inc. and are known as Registered Music Therapists (RMT).

Music therapy is the creative and professionally informed use of music in a therapeutic relationship with people identified as needing physical, psychosocial, or spiritual help, or with people aspiring to experience further self-awareness, enabling increased life satisfaction. The music therapist offers patients, and occasionally their visitors and carers, opportunities to creatively experience a wide range of live and Pre-recorded musical activities or ‘methods’. Music therapists focus on the therapeutic process rather than the musical products of sessions. The musical elements (melody, harmony, rhythm, tempo, instrumentation, and volume) and evolving therapeutic relationship provide the foundation for altered thoughts, or affective, physiological, or transcendental sensations congruent with improved psychosocial adjustment and symptom alleviation. [1]

Role in palliative care
This information will help you to find out more about working in palliative care. It may include narratives from those working in the area, descriptions of the role, or why the position is important.

Hartley NA. On a personal note: a music therapist's reflections on working with those who are living with a terminal illness. J Palliat Care. 2001 Autumn;17(3):135-41.
A transcript from ‘The World Today’, a radio program broadcast around Australia (ABC Local Radio.) features an interview with a music therapist who works with the terminally ill

Palliative care education and training
There are different ways to develop your knowledge and skills in palliative care. Web based learning modules, short courses and specialist palliative care courses and training are offered in many organisations and universities. Further information can be found on the Education pages of CareSearch.

The Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA) is an initiative under the National Palliative Care Program. It is a supported multidisciplinary course with work placements, offered across the country funded until 2010.

Research
Many health professionals may be interested in looking at palliative care research questions in their area of speciality. This may be work that is planned for the future. Any palliative care professional, regardless of discipline, is able to access the CareSearch Research Data Management System (RDMS), a tool developed to support research in palliative care

Resources

Australian Music Therapy Association (Also has an archive list of literature relevant to palliative care, and a palliative care Special Interest Group)
A resource compiled by Carolyn Hart for the Palliative Care Volunteers Conference, Adelaide 2010 on Music Therapy in Palliative care

Books

Dileo, C., & Loewy, J. (Eds). (2005). Music therapy at the end of life. Cherry Hill, NJ: Jeffrey Books.
Forrest, L.C. (2000). Addressing Issues of ethnicity and identity in palliative care through music therapy practice. Australian Journal of Music Therapy, 11, 23-37.
Froehlich, M. (1996). Music Therapy With the Terminally Ill Child. In M. Froehlich (Ed.), Music Therapy with Hospitalized Children: A Creative Arts Approach. Cherry Hill, NJ: Jefferey Books.
Hilliard, R. E. (2005). Hospice and palliative care music therapy: A guide to program development and clinical care. Cherry Hill, NJ: Jeffrey Books. pp. 37-52.
Krout, R. E. (2000). Hospice and palliative music therapy: A continuum of creative caring. In American Music Therapy Association (Ed.), Effectiveness of music therapy procedures: Documentation of research and clinical practice – 3rd edition (pp. 323-411). Silver Spring, MD: American Music Therapy Association.
O’Callaghan, C. (2004). Music therapy in palliative care. In G. Hanks, N. MacDonald, N. Cherny, & K. Calman (Eds.). The Oxford textbook of palliative medicine (3rd ed., pp. 1041-1046). Oxford: OUP.
Pavlicevic M. ed. (2005). Music therapy in children's hospices. Jessie's fund in action. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Palliative care links and information
Palliative Care Australia (PCA) is the peak national organisation representing the interests and aspirations of all who share the ideal of quality care at the end-of-life for all. It has produced the following policy documents:

The Department of Health and Ageing website has a palliative care section.

Reference
[1] O’Callaghan, C. (2004). Music therapy in palliative care. In G. Hanks, N. MacDonald, N. Cherny, & K. Calman (Eds.). The Oxford textbook of palliative medicine (3rd ed., pp. 1041-1046). Oxford: OUP.

Free Full Text Article

Hilliard R. Music therapy in hospice and Palliative care: a review of the empirical data. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2005 Jun;2(2):173-8. Epub 2005 Apr 7.
Crawford G, Price S. Team working: palliative care as a model of interdisciplinary practice. Med J Aust. 2003 Sep 15;179(6 Suppl):S32-4.
Vink AC, Birks JS, Bruinsma MS, Scholten RJ. Music therapy for people with dementia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;(4):CD003477.
Street A, Blackford J. Communication issues for the interdisciplinary community palliative care team. J Clin Nurs. 2001 Sep;10(5):643-50.

Updated 23 May 2011