Families, cancer and dying

Music Therapy References Relating to Cancer and Palliative Care

Hospitals and clinics worldwide have incorporated music therapy in their work with cancer patients and in palliative care. As the music therapy profession has developed internationally, so has its role in palliative care. The arts and creative arts therapies are being seen as a form of spiritual care in healthcare settings, particularly where individuals are confronting life-threatening illnesses. By offering opportunities to engage in the arts and develop creative expression, people with cancer can be enabled to mourn, grieve, celebrate life, be empowered to endure their situation, and find healing and meaning. In many studies we find that music therapy is not simply used with the identified patients but also with their families and carers. As well as noting the importance of work with patients and their families, music therapists also emphasise the importance of music for their own healing. This is necessary to meet personal needs when working with the dying and in the context of a broader hospital milieu of colleagues and friends.

The World Health Organisation's recommendations for cancer relief and palliative care are to affirm life and regard dying as a normal process, to provide relief from pain and distressing symptoms, to integrate the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care, to offer a support system to help patients as actively as possible until death, and to offer a support system to help the family cope during the illness and in their own bereavement. Music therapy has the potential to meet all of these recommendations.

Spiritual coping mechanisms in chronically ill patients

Addressing spiritual needs is acknowledged as an essential component of holistic nursing care. Findings are emerging that suggest that chronic illness demands significant changes in patients' lifestyle. In such circumstances it is claimed that spiritual care can be therapeutic to patients (Cohen et al, 2000; Sherwood, 2000). This study was carried out in order to understand further the spiritual coping mechanisms of patients suffering from chronic illness. A qualitative methodology based on descriptive phenomenology was used to capture participants' lived experience. The main themes emerging from this study suggest that chronic illness led participants to use the following spiritual coping mechanisms: faith, prayer, and related sources of support. Patients coping with chronic illness were engaged in both a personal and private struggle. Patients may benefit from nursing interventions that are sensitive, supportive, and responsive to their spiritual needs.