Abstract
Medical procedures and surgery impact people psychologically as well as physically, provoking feelings of fear and anxiety that may influence their experience of the procedure itself. Patients with elevated anxiety prior to medical procedures may require increased anxiolytic medication, which in turn may lead to greater medical costs and increased side effects. Anxiety and distress may contribute to an increased perception of pain, and inadequately managed pain in the post-operative period may complicate the recovery process. The supportive and flexible approach of music therapy can offer patients the possibility of improving positive affective states while decreasing distress in a way that positively impacts their experience of medical procedures. The evidence base supports the use of structured music listening approaches during and after surgery to reduce pain, and prior to procedures or surgery to reduce anxiety and distress. More flexible music therapy approaches that involve a music therapist interactively engaging with a patient may be best used during painful, and/or highly anxietyprovoking, procedures when the patient is awake. With live, interactive music therapy approaches, the trained music therapist modifies the music and therapeutic approach to meet the changing needs of the patient, which requires a high level of clinical competence. Music therapists, physicians, nurses and other members of the interdisciplinary team collaborate to assure that the therapeutic use of music is optimized at all levels of a patient’s hospitalization.
