Healing to a Beat: How Music Helps People in the Hospital

INDIANAPOLIS–Music can be good for the soul. It also can be good for anyone with a physical injury or a lot of anxiety. If your child has to go to the hospital, music therapy may be a good idea.

“So, what happens when you’re listening to music or playing music is something really awesome at a neurological level in your brain. Your brain is releasing dopamine, which is that feel good drug,” said Caitlin Krater, music therapist at Riley Children’s Health.

Harness the power

She said music therapists are able to harness the power of music, based on scientific evidence, to help patients feel better and even to heal.

“It could be singing live music to a patient in distress to match our rhythm to the rhythm of their breathing and then slowly lower what we’re doing to help decrease their rate of breathing, which can help lower stress levels,” said Krater.

Krater said children who are going through the ordeal of being sick and in the hospital can also benefit from music therapy.

To heal with a beat

“Playing music, beating on some drums, writing songs about how they’re feeling, is a great way to organize their thoughts and also express how they’re feeling,” said Krater.

She said music can also help support physical therapy.

“It’s much easier for our brain to heal with organized rhythms. So, to relearn how to walk using a beat can really support all those functional skills,” she said. 

She also said it’s good for kids to be together with their parents while they are in the hospital. But, some parents may be nervous or upset when their kids are sick. Music may help them communicate.

“Music has that extra layer of all of the emotion and the memories attached to those, and we can talk about bringing families together around their child,” she said. “Then you bring them in and you ask them their favorite songs from home and they start singing them together and you just see the weight kind of lift off their shoulder.”

Krater said the song she ends up singing for kids most is “Old McDonald”, because there’s so much that can be done with it. Kids get to choose any animal they want and it can be as long or short as it needs to be.

She said the kind of music that works best for a person is up to that person. So, if heavy metal is therapeutic for you, you should use it at the hospital as part of your recovery.

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