Background:

Music therapy involves the use of music within a bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach to support improvements in one’s health, functioning and wellbeing. Therapeutic songwriting as a music therapy method encompasses a process of creating, notating and/or recording lyrics and music within a therapeutic relationship to address the client’s needs. In the palliative care context, therapeutic songwriting can provide an avenue for patients to engage in life review, create legacies and send messages to important people in their lives.

 

Aim:

To describe the use and explore the potential therapeutic benefits of songwriting as a music therapy intervention in palliative care through three case studies in an inpatient hospice in Singapore. 

 

Methods:

Songwriting was employed as a music therapy intervention for three hospice inpatients. Data was analysed retrospectively from the music therapist’s clinical notes in the songwriting process as well as themes that emerged from the patients’ song lyrics co-created with the music therapist.

 

Results:

In all case studies, common outcomes from songwriting were legacy creation, opportunities for unique expressions of their personhood, opportunities to discuss and process end-of-life matters, and a sharing of key messages to intended recipients. Patients reported positive emotions and a sense of closure and relief upon completing their songs. In the first two cases, songwriting allowed for the patients to make sense of their illness journey and to experience relationship completion and closure with their loved ones. For the third patient, songwriting allowed her to express her identity and personality through her choice of lyrics and tune.

 

Conclusions:

The use of songwriting in palliative care can be a means for patients to explore and achieve relationship closure, review their life and illness journeys, uniquely express themselves, and create a legacy. These can be beneficial for patients’ psychosocial and emotional wellbeing as they approach the end of life.