Music Therapy and Nursing Cotreatment in Integrative Hospice and Palliative Care

DOI

10.1097/NJH.0000000000000747

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

8-1-2021

Publication Title

Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing

Volume

23

Issue

4

First Page

309

Last Page

315

ISSN

15222179

Keywords

hospice, integrative medicine, interdisciplinary, music therapy, nursing, palliative care

Abstract

Integrative hospice and palliative care is a philosophy of treatment framing patients as whole persons composed of interrelated systems. The interdisciplinary treatment team is subsequently challenged to consider ethical and effective provision of holistic services that concomitantly address these systems at the end of life through cotreatment. Nurses and music therapists, as direct care professionals with consistent face-to-face contact with patients and caregivers, are well positioned to collaborate in providing holistic care. This article introduces processes of referral, assessment, and treatment that nurses and music therapists may engage in to address family support, spirituality, bereavement, and telehealth. Clinical vignettes are provided to illustrate how cotreatment may evolve and its potential benefits given diverse circumstances. As part of this framing, music therapy is positioned as a core - rather than alternative or complementary - service in hospice that satisfies the required counseling services detailed in Medicare's Conditions of Participation for hospice providers. The systematic and intentional partnering of nurses and music therapists can provide patients and caregivers access to quality comprehensive care that can cultivate healthy transitions through the dying process.

Open Access

Hybrid_Gold

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