Research: The Harp in the Healing Environment

Clinical Research Shows Results.

Dr. Brigham Willis and Dr. Linda Larkey are feeling optimistic about the current protocol which includes pain management using live and recorded harp music among various target patient groups. At the present time, anecdotal documentation is ongoing, measuring the effectiveness of therapeutic harp in reducing stress levels among patients and medical staff. The encouraging feedback is evident by the post-performance reports submitted by our harpists. For example:

• A baby appeared relaxed during a respiratory procedure.
• A child with a brain tumor responded for the first time following surgery to harp music.
• A mother responds, “Please, one more song for my daughter. She needs the music; she just had a chemo treatment.”
• A doctor states, “It helps to have harp music in the background when sharing difficult news with the family.”

The goals of using therapeutic harps in a medical setting include:

• Reducing fear and anxiety
• Increasing spiritual well-being
• Turning a crisis into a peaceful moment
• Reducing pain
• Reducing medications
• Reducing stress
• Collecting qualitative and quantitative data

A baby relaxed during a respiratory procedure. A child with a brain tumor responded for the first time following surgery to harp music. A mother responds, “Please, one more song for my daughter. She needs the music; she just had a chemo treatment.”
Scores of patients, family members, and medical staff have remarked about the palpable change in atmosphere which occurs when the therapeutic harp is brought into the healthcare setting.

From a single harpist providing therapeutic music during end-of-life transitions, The Harp Foundation (THF) has expanded its therapeutic harp programs to other healthcare settings and educational institutions throughout Maricopa County.

Currently, THF serves patients, children and infants who are critically ill and medically fragile through its Angel Song program at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Mercy-Gilbert Medical Center, and Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center.

The Angel Song program consists of specially-trained therapeutic harp practitioners committed to providing live harp music at the patient’s bedside to provide calming as well as reduction in pain, medications, stabilization of vital signs, reduction in average length of stay and improved quality of life.

The primary objective of The Harp Foundation is to provide quality, appropriately designed, therapeutic harp programs which can be replicated and adapted for multiple medical and clinical care settings while at the same time lessening healthcare costs for both the patient and the medical community. In order for this integrative program model to be successfully introduced to the medical community throughout Maricopa County, clinical studies must be performed to medically support improved patient outcomes.

Through a collaborative effort and funding by the Victoria Lund Foundation, THF’s pilot study has been approved at St. Joseph’s Hospital and will commence in early Fall 2009. This study will examine the effects of live harp music on time to recovery for infants less than a month old post-surgery for ventricular septum defect repair (holes in the heart).

To date, the effect of live harp music has not been specifically tested for outcomes related to surgical recovery in infants, and not specifically for recovery from one of the most common of cardiac surgeries in this age group, ventricular septum repair. If, after preliminary testing this non-invasive supportive intervention for infants post-surgery shows promise, such an intervention may provide an option for a more gentle recovery experience. Primary outcomes to be assessed will be time from (i) surgery completion to removal from IV inotrope drip and (ii) removal from the ventilator. Other items to be measured are (i) stability readings from the heart monitor, and (ii) the number of alarms triggered from cardiac monitors in the interim.

Data from this study, combined with the data from the same study at St. Joseph’s Hospital, will provide the necessary clinical linkage to the qualitative documentation demonstrating the effectiveness of live therapeutic harp music in a medical setting.
This is an exciting time for The Harp Foundation. In addition to this pilot study we hope to initiate similar therapeutic harp studies at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center and Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center.