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I’ll do guided meditation with soothing music in the
background to reduce anxiety.”
One of Malorie’s patients spent her entire life
playing the piano. “She has severe dementia. Goals
for her are more focused on communication and
engagement. Since she’s able to sit next to me at the
piano. I’ll play and we’ll sing different songs together.
So, treatment goals with her are: How responsive is she
before the music compared to after the music? How
often does she engage in spontaneous conversation or
make eye contact after she engages with me through
music?”
One month after Malorie began working as the
Music Therapist for Serenity Hospice, Covid-19 hit and
turned the world upside down. “Music therapists across
the board had to get really creative,” she said. “Since
we couldn’t go into homes or senior living facilities, I
made CDs for patients and singalong videos. But it was
definitely a challenge for the patients to have to rely on
technology for the care they would normally receive in
person.”
When Malorie was once again able to go into
her patients’ homes, it was with a whole new set of
precautions in place. Every time she enters a home,
everything, including the guitar and guitar case, has to
be thoroughly wiped down and a mask worn at all times,
even when she sings. “I make sure to position myself so
that I’m not directly facing a patient when I sing. And
any percussion instrument I may use, which is especially
useful with dementia patients, I put into a separate
bag, and I don’t use those instruments again with any
other patient that day.” As of the writing of this article,
Malorie was still unable to see patients of Serenity
Hospice in social services such as nursing homes and
senior living facilities.
In 2019, a young twenty-two-year-old Kobi Lee took
the stage on America’s Got Talent and shocked the world
with his amazing voice and musical talents. Even though
he was blind and autistic and could not communicate
without great effort, he showed us music in its purest,
most powerful form.
“Music plays a huge role in helping our kids with
autism,” writes Anna Bullard, VP of Government
Relations and Business Development for Chancelight
Behavioral Health. “One of the ways my autistic
daughter first learned to talk was by singing songs. She
could sing before she could actually talk. I’m so grateful
our therapist understood the importance of music in
therapy.” Music therapy is especially important to my
family because Ava is my granddaughter.
When my dear friend, Frances Tucker, was traveling
back and forth to the Cancer Treatment Centers of
America in Newnan, Georgia, she always spoke of the
comfort and peace she received through the ministry of
a music therapist during chemotherapy treatments.
Perhaps the most important concerts are not those
given on a stage with an auditorium full of fans but
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those heard only by the broken, the hurting, and the dying.
No one denies the danger of Covid-19 for some, but those
in hospice care can’t put life on hold until this pandemic is
over. As a music therapist, Malorie is on the front lines of
an important service those in hospice care need. Week after
week, she returns to our city, the home of her father, with
healing songs. Surely, hers is the work of the angels.