Music brings comfort to palliative care patients

Music can be a powerful, healing tool and Lucy Thomas, a Vancouver music therapist, has seen its physical benefits first hand in her palliative care patients.

March is Music Therapy Month and Thomas told North By Northwest host Sheryl MacKay that her goal when playing music to patients is to help them mentally escape the confines of their hospital rooms.

She plays violin and guitar to patients and describes the connection she creates with them through music as "magical."

"Quite often when I'm playing to someone who's in the hospital environment, they're isolated, they're bored, sometimes depressed, lonely.

"Playing music to them can take them to a whole different place, especially if it's familiar music," she said.

Growing up, music therapy seemed like a natural path to take, she said. Her mother was a piano instructor who specialized in teaching people with learning disabilities.

In working with elderly patients with dementia, Thomas found that a song can trigger lost memories.

"People can't remember what their children's names are, they don't know what they ate for lunch, but they can remember every single word to You Are My Sunshine," she said.

Pain management

In palliative care units, she's found that music helps ease pain and soothe anxiety.

"If someone's listening to music and it's really reaching them, then they're no longer focusing on any physical discomfort they might be in… They might be even feeling the vibrations of the sound through their bodies, which is very healing."

Thomas said that music can also help regulate breathing in patients with respiratory issues. In fact, there is a physiological phenomenon called entrainment, which she described as "the human body's ability to synchronize with the music in its surroundings."

During a session, Thomas asks patients to select the music they want to hear, meaning she can be playing anything from Mozart to Metallica on any given day.

"Especially in the hospital setting, patients often have no choice, no control. They're told when to eat, when to take their medications. This is something that they can choose."

To hear the full interview listen to media below:

With files from North By Northwest