Music Therapy

Years ago I was a conference and heard a marvelous talk by Deforia Lane who was a music therapist in Cleveland. I was completely enthralled and convinced by her presentation and have wished ever since that we had a similar program here.

If you spend any time at BIDMC, you are likely aware of the harpists who play in various spots around the hospital. Occasionally they sit on Shapiro 9, but they are few in number, work part-time, and are responsible for both campuses. Ms. Lane's work was more individual, going into a hospital room to work with a single patient.

This article from Cancer Net is a good overview:

Spotlight On: Music Therapists 
· Emily Goodman 
If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, you will interact with a number of different members of the health care team at various times during treatment. When you walk into a doctor’s office, hospital, or cancer center, you may encounter doctors, nurses, physician assistants, social workers—the list goes on. In the Spotlight On series, we talk with some of these health care professionals to learn more about their jobs and the role they play in providing high quality cancer care. 
Music therapists provide services to help people cope with a cancer diagnosis and its treatment. Here, Karen Popkin gives us an inside look at the role music therapists play. She is a board-certified music therapist. and licensed creative arts therapist. She studied music education at Ohio University before earning a Master of Arts degree in music therapy at New York University. As Program Coordinator of Creative Arts at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Integrative Medicine Service, she serves pediatric and adult patients and their families. She also educates other health care professionals and delivers lectures and workshops in New York and internationally.

Read more: http://www.cancer.net/blog/2017-07/spotlight-music-therapists