Concord Hospital Therapeutic Arts and Activity Services recently received a $3,000 grant from the Smyth Trust to provide live therapeutic music at the bedside to patients who are experiencing pain, anxiety or complications as a result of illness or hospitalization. Music has direct and immediate benefit to people who are contending with a difficult hospital stay, and since May 2008, Concord Hospital has offered live music to hospitalized patients from independent, certified music practitioners, who are accomplished musicians trained to use their musicianship therapeutically in a clinical setting.
Based on a growing body of research that recognizes the powerful interaction between the art of music and the science of medicine, music practitioners are educated in the physics of sound and its effects on the body and psyche. They are trained in traditional and multicultural approaches to the use of music, and respond improvisationally to help patients experiencing pain, anxiety, and muscle tension. Concord Hospital has been recognized by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, the New Hampshire Business Committee on the Arts, and at statewide conferences for creating an enriching environment through use of the arts in healing. The hospital is known for its use of expressive and performing arts in therapeutic care, its extensive collection of visual arts, and its commitment to local artists and volunteers.
For more information on arts-in-healing programs at Concord Hospital, visit concordhospital.org.
