{"id":5035,"date":"2018-05-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prd-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?p=5035"},"modified":"2023-06-29T21:25:55","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T21:25:55","slug":"unique-type-of-therapy-is-music-patients-ears-auburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/unique-type-of-therapy-is-music-patients-ears-auburn\/","title":{"rendered":"Unique type of therapy is music to patients\u2019 ears in Auburn","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

By McKenna Ownby<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every day at 1pm, music fills the halls of the Geriatric Inpatient Psychiatry Unit at MultiCare Auburn Medical Center.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the radio or the TV; it\u2019s Mike Thomas providing daily music therapy in the memory wellness unit.<\/p>\n

Thomas is a creative arts therapist for patients over the age of 50 going through sudden changes to their mental or physical well-being. His goal is to improve their emotional health and communication abilities, as well as cognitive skills and overall quality of life, through the practice of music therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the staff love to watch Mike with his classes whenever we hear the music start,\u201d says Jennifer Taylor, a program manager for the unit and one of Thomas\u2019s supervisors. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what reason a patient is here \u2014 they can all relate to and enjoy the music.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 38-bed inpatient unit provides care for older adults who may suffer from depression, anxiety, dementias and other cognitive disorders. The typical length of a patient stay is around 20 days, but can be longer based on their specific needs.<\/p>\n

Music therapy is defined as the clinical use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s me building a rapport with patients, assessing what their needs are and then finding out how I can use music to meet those needs,\u201d Thomas says.<\/p>\n

He starts his first class of the day by playing the guitar and singing the name of each patient with a \u201chello song.\u201d Then he\u2019ll try to jog their memories with popular songs he knows they\u2019re familiar with, even taking requests when patients have them.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite is when he plays Johnny Cash,\u201d says Carmen, a current patient who says she never misses a class.<\/p>\n

But Thomas can\u2019t effectively lead his class with just the guitar \u2014 he needs a variety of instruments, and they aren\u2019t cheap. So when he expressed a need for purchasing drums to enhance the participation levels in his classes last year, his team turned to the South King Health Foundation for support.<\/p>\n

Thanks to generous contributions, Thomas now has a keyboard and six drums that patients use daily.<\/p>\n

He says the drums are a fan favorite.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted them to have a chance to engage in the music-making. With the drums, it\u2019s great because you really just need to have the ability to tap a beat. They sound good right away, so it creates a lot of success,\u201d Thomas says.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll play a beat, then he\u2019ll turn to his \u201caudience” and ask them to repeat it back to him. That interaction creates opportunities for increased focus, stress reduction and interaction with peers. Even if it\u2019s just for a few minutes or an hour every afternoon, the music yields instant results.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a rarity to see people who are severely agitated or upset when they come into class, and then all of a sudden within 15 minutes or so, they’re calm and attentive and engaged,\u201d Thomas says.<\/p>\n

On an average day, Thomas sees anywhere from 10-20 patients who attend up to two of his classes, focused on either memory or emotional well-being. They often tell him that the music helps them get through their toughest times, and families have even contacted him after their loved one is discharged from the unit to share the improvements they\u2019ve noticed.<\/p>\n

Carolyn, another current patient, calls the music classes the best part of her day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the only thing I have to look forward to, while I\u2019m here getting better,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Thomas hopes to expand his selection of instruments to include hand chimes for their unique range of sounds. They can help people with cognitive disabilities improve their attention and focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis funding is helping us give patients a better quality of life,\u201d Thomas says. \u201cThe hospital can be a really scary and unfamiliar place, so the more opportunities we can give them to do something exciting, familiar or fun, the more they\u2019re going to walk away from this experience and think, \u2018I\u2019m so glad I came to MultiCare.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

You can contribute to providing resources and unique treatments like music therapy to the patients of the Geriatric Inpatient Psychiatry Unit by making a donation to Where the Need is Greatest<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every day at 1pm, music fills the halls of the Geriatric Inpatient Psychiatry Unit at MultiCare Auburn Medical Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behavioral-health","category-profiles-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnique type of therapy is music to patients\u2019 ears in Auburn - MultiCare Vitals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/unique-type-of-therapy-is-music-patients-ears-auburn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unique type of therapy is music to patients\u2019 ears in Auburn - 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