Implementation and initial testing of the specially designed music sound environment 'MusiCure' started at the National Hospital (Rigshospitalet) ICU 4131, who had installed an excellent music system with custom ceiling speakers, and in a pilot project the new specially designed music program was tested and compared with other (mainly classical) music. Over a period of approx. 10 months we managed to obtain much valuable experience and feedback directly from patients, staff and relatives. The tests clearly demonstrated the value of the specially composed music, and during the test period valuable direct feedback was collected, information which the composer and producer of the music could use for further development of the musical material. Clinical supervisor, head of ICU 4131, Professor Lars Heslet:
“Many improvements are being made in hospitals today, but such an important factor as the everyday sound environment (and the environment in general) has been far too neglected up until now in the hospital setting – where there is a strong need to give patients an optimistic and positive motivation to get well again.
Among seriously ill patients, one can often sense that they are trying to draw themselves out of their bodies, and their friends and family often say that they seem to be losing the will to live, even though the patients themselves are unable totalk about it, as they are often unable to speak.
As a supplement to the medical treatment we can offer as doctors, it is thus important that we can also promote positive feelings in our patients – good experiences which give them a sense of being alive and keep them in their bodies, and which give body and soul the strength to recover. We have long accepted and recognised the vital connection between mind and body in modern medical science, especially with a focus on patients’ feelings – and music is central here, because it maintains the physical element.
A positive and optimistic audio environment is therefore one of the vital factors which can be changed.
By creating a positive image/dream-like experience for patients, using a specially designed music and sound environment, the surroundings in a hospital ward suddenly feel completely different and much less anxiety-inducing for patients.” - Professor Lars Heslet
Read the complete article “Medicine and music”
Illustration: Art decoration in ICU 4131 Copenhagen University Hospital
Glass mosaic by Henning Damgaard-Sørensen