Environmental Music Therapy (EMT): Music’s Contribution to Changing Hospital Atmospheres and Perceptions of Environments

Abstract

AbstractThere are a myriad of sensory elements that contribute to the hospital sensory experience.Environmental Music Therapy is a human-centered, trauma informed strategy that encompasses a process using the metaphoric and associative properties of live music that seeks to modulate patients’ and staff’s perception of the hospital milieu as hostile. While there have been a few studies that have measured EMT’s actual impact quantifiably [1-5], this is the first article to outline the steps and provide orientation, theoretical grounding, and training guidelines for its actual implementation. It is hoped that EMT can be instituted in hospital ICUs as a viable, accessible practice for music therapists whereby its institution will address the sound environment, and perhaps most particularly in those ICUs that are extremely noisy or eerily quiet. Keywords: Environmental Music Therapy, soundscape, soundtrack, ICU, milieu perception