Telehealth Music Therapy in End-of-Life Care in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Two Descriptive Case Reports

ABSTRACT

One major change from the COVID-19 pandemic has been the rise of telehealth services. While telehealth itself is not new, social distancing measures caused a rise in its demand through video conferencing applications. Music therapists have also had to adapt to telehealth music therapy. Existing literature demonstrates the potential of telehealth music therapy. There is however a paucity in research of telehealth music therapy for certain populations, such as in end-of-life care. There are some specific needs of patients in end-of-life care that music therapists using online platforms have to navigate. This paper highlights two descriptive case reports of telehealth music therapy in an inpatient hospice setting in Singapore. The aims are to (a) describe telehealth music therapy in end-of-life care, (b) describe practice-informed reflections about the usefulness and challenges of telehealth music therapy in end-of-life care, and (c) make practice-informed suggestions for effectively using telehealth music therapy in end-of-life care. Overall, this paper shows that telehealth music therapy can be effectively conducted in end-of-life care. It also highlights how various interventions were conducted online, and the considerations involved in managing challenges such as audio latency and the absence of physical presence. While telehealth music therapy in this paper was conducted in the hospice inpatient setting, its effectiveness also led to its extension to the hospice's homecare services. As the global interest in telehealth continues to grow, this paper recommends that telehealth music therapy also be explored as an alternative additional option in end-of-life care.