Purpose: Explore facilitators and barriers to development and integration of an inpatient music therapy (MT) program from the perspective of the patient, family member, and health care professional.
Materials and methods: This qualitative study recruited patients on acute neurosciences/neurorehabilitation units having participated in the hospital MT program, their family, and members of their health care team. Semi-structured individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with 35 participants (14 patients, 5 family members, 16 health care professionals). Interviews/focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were coded in duplicate and a codebook was developed through an iterative process.
Results: Four dominant themes emerged from the data: (1) facilitators of program operations; (2) barriers to program establishment; (3) perceived positive impact on patient outcomes; and (4) opportunity for improvement. Facilitator sub-themes included a love for music that encouraged participation, broad appeal of MT, and support of the health care team.
Conclusions: Patients, health care professionals, and family members accepted MT as a treatment modality. While there is growing evidence for MT in neurorehabilitation, practical challenges remain in developing inpatient MT services, including funding, and optimal integration of music therapists into existing care teams.
Keywords: Music therapy; inpatient; music; neurorehabilitation; program development; rehabilitation.
Music therapy (MT) is a therapy modality that can be used to target breath control, speech, motor control, and emotional regulation goals in neurorehabilitation.Development of an MT program was facilitated by the broad appeal of the therapy and support from the health care team.Multi-pronged education efforts are needed to increase staff awareness of specific indications and benefits of MT.MT sessions should be offered more than once per week on neurorehabilitation units.