A hospital is a special place—a place where the full circle of life can be found and appreciated, from birth to death. Often, patients dying in the hospital have had their journey eased by the soothing harps of music thanatologists.
Margaret Pasquesi and Tony Pederson are harpists and music thanatologists with Palliative Care Center & Hospice of the North Shore (PCCHNS), playing healing music to the hospice patients at Swedish Covenant Hospital. Margaret and Tony are two of only about 70 music thanatologists in the world, specially trained to use the power of music to bring a sense of peace to dying patients and their families. Their music reduces pain symptoms and regulates breathing and heart rate to help with relaxation. They play to the patient's respiration rate to calm and soothe.
People have been using music to alleviate many of the symptoms of the seriously ill and dying for centuries, Margaret said. The Greeks, Celts and medieval monks all practiced customs of compassionate end-of-life care by bringing music directly to the bedside.
She said there are three types of vigils music thanatologists hold in the hospital:
Processing vigil for a patient not actively dying to help them to face the approaching death and ease pain, anxiety and loneliness. A series of these vigils may be appropriate during the final months and weeks.
Immanency vigil is held in the last 24 to 48 hours of life, this session acts as a catalyst for movement when the patient appears to be stuck in an unproductive pattern. These vigils can also be enormously calming for family members, giving them permission to grieve.
Special intervention vigil is held for patients, terminal or not, who are in respiratory distress, alert ventilator patients having issues with anxiety, trauma patients and patients undergoing extubation.
