Music Therapy to Enhance Quality of Life in a Patient with
Cancer in Palliative Care: A Case Study

Thaya Sangaroon¹, Natee Chiengchana², Ampai Buranapapuk³

¹Sangaroon.thaya@gmail.com

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of music therapy to enhance quality of life in a patient with cancer in palliative care. The experimental case study was utilized in this study to collect data through a series of observation and interviews. In this study, there were three participants who were the patient, the caregiver, and the nurse. The initial assessment was provided before the first music therapy session phase. The music therapy sessions consisted of five sessions within three weeks with the patient and the caregiver. Music therapy interventions included live music, singing and playing instruments, song choice, lyric analysis, and reminiscence. The interviews were provided at the end of the week with the caregiver and the nurse separately which aimed to investigate the changes of patient's quality of life after participating in music therapy services. The results of this were presented in the qualitative case analysis and inductive analysis.

The results of this study determined that the patient's quality of life was enhanced especially in emotion, environment, physical comfort, and all satisfaction domains. In addition, music therapy also helped the caregiver to accept the situation and use music to reminisce the patient. Meanwhile, the medical staff also benefited the use of music therapy in hospital.

Keywords: Music Therapy, Palliative Care Patient, Patient With Cancer, Quality Of Life

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