Mesothelioma and Asbestos

A student from the University of Alabama is using music therapy to comfort dying patients in hospice. Sarah Pitts is a music therapy major who uses her voice as well as her guitar to play everything from Beatles songs to hymns similar “Amazing Grace” upon the request of dying patients as well as their families. Music therapy can improve a patient’s quality of life in various ways, including pain management, helping a patient express their wishes to loved ones as well as helping repair relationships.

A study published in 2006 found that patients receiving palliative care experienced dramatic improvement in their mental as well as material condition from music therapy. Testing showed that music therapy helped decrease pain, nervousness as well as shortness of breath in patients with illnesses ranging from pain disorders to AIDS to cancer. Over 80% of patients in the study said that music improved their mood as well as the mood of their family members.

Pitts stated that music can help hospice patients as well as their loved ones come together as a family, helping them to remember a wonderful time, as well as having one positive thing come out of the patient’s death.

For the filled story, go to Business Week.