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Get a quick, expert overview of the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions in health care. This practical resource compiled by Dr. Olivia Swedberg Yinger provides a concise, useful overview of the profession of music therapy, including a description of each of the research-support practices that occur in the settings where music therapists most commonly work.

Background: Having an infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) can disrupt parent well-being, the transition to parenthood, and the typical trajectories of infant and child health. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or other sexual and gender minority identity (LGBTQ+) parents, this stress may be compounded by health disparities and fear of stigma and discrimination; however, research is lacking about LGBTQ+ parents of infants in the NICU. Objectives: The purpose of this integrative review was to better understand the experiences of LGBTQ+ parents of NICU infants, with a focus on experiences of stigma and discrimination, sources of strength and resilience, and provision of family-centered care. Method: We searched EBSCOHost, ProQuest, Web of Science, and Google Scholar between 30 May 2023 and 18 September 2023 for empirical studies published in English in peer-reviewed scholarly journals in which LGBTQ+ parents shared their experiences with having infants admitted to the NICU. Results: We identified six articles that met inclusion criteria, all of which were qualitative studies that included 12–14 LGBTQ+ parents of NICU infants. Conclusions: LGBTQ+ parents in all studies reported instances of perceived stigma and discrimination while their infants were in the NICU, whereas parents in two studies mentioned strength and resilience, and parents in three studies described elements of family-centered care. There is a need for rigorous research on family-centered NICU care that includes questions about sources of strength and resilience in addition to challenges. We propose that future researchers use community engaged methods to center perspectives of LGBTQ+ parents.

Children undergoing routine immunizations frequently experience severe distress, which may be improved through music therapy as procedural support. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of live, cognitive- behavioral music therapy during immunizations on (a) the behaviors of children, their parents, and their nurses; and (b) parental perceptions. Participants were children between the ages of 4 and 6 years (N = 58) who underwent immunizations, their parents (N = 62), and the nurses who administered the procedure (N = 19). Parent/child dyads were randomly assigned to receive music therapy (n = 29) or standard care (n = 29) during their immunization. Afterward, each parent rated their child's level of pain and the distress their child experienced compared to previous medical experiences. All procedures were videotaped and later viewed by trained observers, who classified child, parent, and nurse behaviors using the categories of the Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale-Revised (CAMPIS-R). Significant differences between the music therapy and control groups were found in rates of child coping and distress behaviors and parent distress-promoting behaviors. Parents of children who received music therapy reported that their child's level of distress was less than during previous medical experiences, whereas parents of children in the control group reported that their child's level of distress was greater. No significant differences between groups were found in parents' ratings of children's pain or in rates of nurse behavior. Live, cognitive-behavioral music therapy has potential benefits for young children and their parents during immunizations.

Background: Individuals undergoing medical procedures frequently experience pain and anxiety. Music-based interventions have the potential to help alleviate these symptoms. Objective: This review investigated the effects of music-based interventions (music therapy and music medicine) on pain and anxiety in children and adults undergoing medical procedures. Methods: This systematic review examined randomized controlled trial music intervention studies to manage patient-reported pain and/or anxiety during medical procedures. All studies were published in English and peer-reviewed journals. Quality and risk of bias were assessed using criteria from the Checklist to Evaluate a Report of a Nonpharmacological Trial (CLEAR-NPT). Results: Fifty studies met inclusion criteria, the majority of which (84%) had a high risk of bias. It was not possible to perform a meta-analysis because studies varied greatly in terms of medical procedure and intervention type. Results varied across studies, with approximately half (48%) indicating less anxiety for music intervention participants; fewer studies (36%) reported less pain for music intervention participants. Conclusions: There is a need to clearly define and differentiate between music therapy and music medicine interventions in procedural support research. Further research is necessary to determine which patients would benefit most from music interventions during medical procedures, and which interventions are most beneficial. To improve research quality and reduce risk of bias, when designing studies investigators need to carefully consider factors related to design, including randomization, treatment allocation concealment, blinding outcome assessors, and intention-to-treat analysis. In addition, more detailed intervention reporting is needed when publishing results.

Many children undergoing surgery develop anxiety, which can lead to negative health outcomes. Music therapy has the potential to help reduce pediatric preoperative anxiety, yet there has been limited research in this area. A retrospective review was conducted of a pilot music therapy program in an ambulatory surgery center. Active, developmentally appropriate music therapy interventions were used to help reduce preoperative anxiety in 103 pediatric patients between ages 2 and 9. Data indicated a trend for improvement in patient affect and emotional expression, both of which are indicators of anxiety reduction. Parents reported that their children’s levels of distress/anxiety were better when receiving music therapy treatment than in previous medical experiences. Parents additionally reported that music therapy benefited both them and their child, and that music therapy improved their perception of the facility. Results suggest that preoperative music therapy can help reduce anxiety in children and their parents.

The purpose of this study was to examine the musical and linguistic characteristics of songs previously reported by music therapists to be most commonly used with older adult clients. Piano/vocal arrangements were acquired for 72 songs (within five different genres: folk, hymns, musicals, patriotic, and popular), which music therapists reported using frequently with older adults in a study by VanWeelden and Cevasco (2007). Musical characteristics, including key signature, time signature, range, tempo marking, and form, were recorded for each of the songs. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2007 (LIWC2007) software was used to identify the percentage of social-process words and positive/negative emotion words in each of the songs. Results indicated that social-process words were prevalent in the song lyrics and that positive emotion words outnumbered negative emotion words. Significant differences in word count were found among songs with different musical forms. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Abstract Many individuals with Parkinson's disease experience impaired speech as their vocal muscles weaken. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of participation in a Group Music Therapy Voice Protocol (G-MTVP) on the speech of individuals with Parkinson's disease. Individuals with Parkinson's disease (N = 10) who attended bi-weekly rehearsals for a Parkinson's choir participated in the study. Choir rehearsals were led by a board-certified music therapist and involved implementation of G-MTVP, which consisted of 50 minutes of opening and closing conversation, physical, facial, and breathing warm-ups, vocal exercises, and singing, all focusing on increasing phonatory effort to maintain vocal strength. Participants' speech characteristics were measured after 3 weeks and 6 weeks of G-MTVP. Results showed significant increases in intensity of conversational speech, indicating that G-MTVP has potential benefits to improve and maintain vocal functioning of individuals with Parkinson's disease in a motivating, social setting. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare overall patient satisfaction scores on the Press Ganey Inpatient Survey (PGIS) of hospital patients who received music therapy services with those of patients at the same hospital who did not receive music therapy services. The identification numbers of all patients who received medical music therapy in 2008 (N = 522) were provided to Press Ganey Associates. Press Ganey consultants reported mean overall satisfaction scores for those randomly selected music therapy patients who completed the PGIS (n = 22) and patients who did not receive music therapy services (n = 909). Results showed that patients who received music therapy reported overall satisfaction scores that were on average 3.4 points higher than scores of patients who did not receive music therapy. Patient demographics which may affect patient satisfaction scores such as age, hospital unit, and reason for referral are discussed.

Children undergoing medical procedures frequently experience severe distress, which may be ameliorated through procedural support music therapy. Parent and nurse behaviors have been noted to influence child behaviors during medical procedures, yet no prior studies were found which examined the impact of procedural support music therapy on caregiver behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a live, cognitive-behavioral music therapy intervention on the distress and coping behaviors of young children undergoing immunization, as well as the behaviors of parents and nurses. Participants were children between the ages of 48 and 72 months (N = 58) who underwent immunizations, as well as their parents and the nurses who administered the immunizations. Each parent completed a demographic inventory describing their child's previous medical experiences. The researcher classified children as “high distress” or “low distress” based on parents' responses to the demographic inventory. Parent/child dyads were then randomly assigned to receive music therapy (n = 29) or standard care (n = 29) during their immunization, with an equal number of high distress (n = 10) and low distress (n = 19) children assigned to each condition. Afterward, each parent rated their child's distress compared to previous medical experiences and rated the level of pain their child experienced on a scale from 0 to 10. All procedures were videotaped. Research assistants created transcripts from the videotapes of procedures. Trained observers watched the videos and labeled each child and adult behavior using the categories of the Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale-Revised (CAMPIS-R). Child behaviors were classified as coping, distress, or neutral. Parent and nurse behaviors were classified as coping-promoting, distress-promoting, or neutral. Rates and proportions of child and adult behaviors were calculated. A series of Mann Whitney U tests revealed that, compared to children in the control group, children in the music therapy group showed significantly higher rates and proportions of coping behaviors during the preparation phase of the immunization (prior to the first needle injection) and during the procedure phase, p < .05. The two groups did not differ significantly in rates and proportions of child coping behavior during the recovery phase (after the final needle injection). Children in the control group showed significantly higher rates of distress behaviors during the procedure phase and during the recovery phase and higher proportions of distress behaviors during the procedure phase. The two groups did not differ significantly in rates of child distress behaviors during the preparation phase or in proportions of child distress behaviors during the preparation or recovery phases. Parents of children in the control group showed significantly higher rates and proportions of distress-promoting behaviors during all three phases of the procedure compared to parents of children in the music therapy group. The two groups did not differ significantly in the rates or proportions of parent coping-promoting behaviors during any of the three phases. Nurses who treated children in the music therapy group showed significantly higher proportions of coping-promoting behaviors during the procedure phase compared to nurses who treated children in the control group. The two groups did not differ significantly in the rates or proportions of nurse behavior during any other phases. There were no significant differences between groups in the lengths of phases of treatment, nor were there significant differences in parents' ratings of their children's pain. Parents of children in the music therapy group reported that their child's level of distress was less than during previous medical experiences, while parents of children in the control group reported that their child's level of distress was greater than in the past. Results indicate that a live, cognitive-behavioral music therapy intervention has potential benefits for young children, their parents, and their nurses during immunizations.