Environmental Music Performance, Music Medicine, and Environmental Music Therapy: Contributions to Aesthetics in the Hospital Environment

Abstract

Noise has negative effects on a person’s physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing, especially for patients in medical settings. Woodward’s (2004) survey of hospitalized patients indicated perceptions of a lack of beauty and aesthetics in the inpatient setting. The most common negative aspect that has been found is noise in hospitals (O'Neill & Moss, 2014). Evidence shows that music structured intentionally can promote psychological movement, activate brain reward systems and promote pleasant emotions (Nolan, 2013; Lumley et al., 2011). Using live music can meet safety concerns and best promote emotional and physical responses of patients (Loewy, 2009). Music also serves to move patients’ attention away from negative stimuli to something more joyful and comfortable (Thoma et al., 2015). This capstone review thesis focuses on music-related methods to improve beauty and aesthetics in inpatient settings, including Environmental Music Performance, Music Medicine, and Environmental Music Therapy (EMT) techniques. It also includes a program proposal for incorporating music and music therapy interventions to improve the aesthetic experience in the inpatient medical setting.M.A., Music Therapy and Counseling -- Drexel University, 201