Developing and using a computerized database for music therapy in palliative medicine

The purpose of this paper is to describe the music therapy program at the H arry R. Horvitz Center for Palliative Medicine, to present different music therapy interventions that are used with individuals who have terminal illn esses, and to introduce initial findings from a pilot study of the effects of music therapy on an inpatient palliative medicine unit. For the first ti me, a computerized database has been designed to evaluate clinical practice by tracking music therapy intervention effectiveness on common symptoms. M easurement techniques included visual analogue scales and behavioural obser vation. Music therapy was shown to have a significant effect on common symp toms in advanced cancer patients, suggesting that it should be included in palliative medicine programs as an adjunct to symptom treatment.