| Abstract |
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study was to learn how music therapy sessions, held
prior to the death of a loved one, impact spirituality in surviving
caregivers of advanced cancer patients.
METHOD:
The method of naturalistic inquiry was used to investigate the spiritual
meaning of pre-loss music therapy sessions. Bereaved caregivers of
seven different patients, who had been receiving music therapy through a
home-based hospice program, participated in individual open-ended
interviews. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded. Themes
were organized as they emerged.
RESULTS:
As caregivers reflected on their experiences in music therapy, they
reported autonomous joy (music therapy affected the caregiver directly)
and empathic joy (caregivers' joy was based in remembering seeing the
patient happy in music therapy). They also noted feelings of empowerment
due to the ways they felt they had contributed in the care of the
patients through music therapy. The caregivers were found to engage in
processes of reflection that inspired these spiritual themes: reflection
on the present (connectedness), reflection on the past (remembrance),
and reflection on the future (hope). They referred to the ways that the
music therapy sessions helped them find connection with self, others
(through bringing their loved ones "back to life" and have a "renewal of
self"), and the "beyond"; and that times in music therapy brought them
happy memories and sentiments of hope. Meaning through transcendence was
found to be the overarching trend in this study, as caregivers were
lifted from remorse into heightened sense of meaning and gained
"airplane views" of their lives.
SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS:
Pre-loss music therapy can potentially assist caregivers during times of
bereavement, as they retain memories of joy and empowerment, rather
than memories of pain and distress, and find meaning through
transcendence. |