Music therapy with imminently dying hospice patients and their families: Facilitating release near the time of death

Abstract

Hospice care seeks to address the diverse needs of terminally ill patients in a number of physical, psychosocial, and spiritual areas. Family members of the patient often are included in the care and services provided by the hospice team, and hospice clinicians face a special challenge when working with families of patients who are imminently dying. When loved ones are anticipating the patient’s impending death, they may find it difficult to express feelings, thoughts, and last wishes. Music therapy is a service modality that can help to facilitate such communication between the family and the patient who is actively dying, while also providing a comforting presence. Music therapy as a way to ease communication and sharing between dying patients and their loved ones is discussed in this article. The ways in which music therapy can facilitate a means of release for both patients and family members in an acute care unit of a large US hospice organization are specifically described. Case descriptions illustrate how music therapy functioned to allow five patients and their families to both come together and let go near the time of death. Elements to consider when providing such services to imminently dying patients and their families are discussed.