The Effects of Music Therapy Entrainment on Reported Pain, Vital Signs, Breakthrough Pain, and Bowel Function of Cancer Outpatients Experiencing Chronic Pain

 

The Arts and Quality of Life Research Center received a $50,000 Provost Seed Grant to conduct a study that examines the effects of music therapy entrainment on pain levels, vital signs, medication usage, quality of life and medication side effects in cancer patients with chronic pain.  The proposed research represents a collaborative effort between The Arts and Quality of Life Research Center, pharmacy faculty, and the Temple University Cancer Center.

A patient-centered music therapy approach to pain management, music therapy entrainment, has been developed by Dr. Dileo. This treatment, based on principles of physics, involves an individual, interpersonal process between patient and music therapist wherein music that matches the client’s experience of pain as well as what would heal the pain is created via musical improvisation. Within this treatment process, the patient has an opportunity to receive the following: a personal assessment of the pain and his or her experience of it, empathy with the pain, control over the musical representation of the pain, objective experience of the pain as external or him or herself, and the presence of a caring person who is willing to “resonate” with the pain. The current research has documented the effectiveness of this approach with children who have acute, post-surgical pain, with those who have chronic pain, and with those experiencing laboratory-induced pain.

This multidisciplinary research project will investigate the following research questions:  1) does music therapy entrainment significantly influence perceived pain, vital signs, breakthrough pain medication use and bowel functioning in persons with chronic and/or cancer pain when compared to another music condition? 2) Which areas of the brain are activated by individualized entrainment music versus sham music? 3) What is the participant’s experience of music therapy entrainment vs. a comparison condition?