‘Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music. ’ These were the words of Sergei Rachmanioff who understood the significant power that music has. For some people, music is the centre of their lives. Everybody knows what music is and they all have heard a type of it. However, most people underestimate the value and power music has in our lives. Whether they know it or not music affects the mood of people and influences their behaviour. As a result of these, music has influence on peoples’ health.
From past to present, music is used for peoples’ health by improving and changing way and it keeps doing it as Sergei Rachmaninoff mentioned before. So, music is clearly important for the healthcare field owing to its beneficial influences. Music is integrated into the healthcare field at different level. First of all, music is used as a therapy. According to a web site music therapy is the clinical and evidence based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized aims with a therapeutic relationship by a professional person who has completed a music therapy program.
The idea of the using music as a therapy is as old as the writings of Aristotle and Plato. Using music therapy provides lots of opportunities and it has remarkable outcomes. It enables to explore personal feelings such as self-esteem or personal insight, to make positive changes in mood and emotional states and to improve concentration. For example, after World War I and World War II when all types of musicians, both amateur and professional, went to soldier’ hospitals to play for the thousands of soldiers suffering both physical and emotional trauma from the wars.
After patients’ positive responses, doctors hired musicians for the therapy (Alternative Medicine Therapies: Music Therapy). Moreover, music therapy also helps people to protect from some disease or to reduce effects of them. In the recent time, using music intervention has become more and more common way in order to put down the impact of Alzheimer’s disease, brain injuries, migraine and so on(Alternative Medicine Therapies: Music Therapy). As a consequence of these positive effects of power of music, it is obvious that music is very advantageous for the healthcare field.
Secondly, music is also used in surgical operation. Music helps both surgeons and patients in the operating room. For example, music contributes surgeon to remain relaxed, calm, focused and able to stay alert for long periods of time. In addition to its influences on surgeon, music also affects patients positively. According to Dr. Alice Cash, using music in the operating room eliminates or reduces many of the widespread problems and side effects of the surgery. She dedicates her life the using power of music to help people.
On the grounds of her master degree in Social Work and a PhD in Musicology, she claims that by using music patients need 50% less anesthesia so they will feel relaxed and recover faster, live through less anxiety just because they do not hear the unpleasant sound. Thirdly, music is also beneficial to premature babies. According to Professor of Obstetrics Andrew Shenon, preterm babies have increased over the past years and become a big problem that causes long term health problems.
He thought that playing music has a positive effects on babies noted that music helps infants to be calmer, to obtain weight faster and to go home sooner (BBC NEWS, 27 May 2009) Based on some research and their significant outcomes more and more hospitals and healthcare systems start to use power of music to help preterm babies. Some may argue that music is not enough for improving peoples’ health by itself. It is the contention of these supporters that its effects are not long term.
They might be right to some extend; some music’s positive effects may not be long term. However, this does not mean that music is always insufficient. There are lots of studies that aimed to investigate and to show the long term effects of music on peoples’ health. As a result of these researches, multiple measures of music benefits are essential to consider the long-term effects of music have on this population (Ledger, AJ. , Baker, FA. ,2007). Proponents of the power of the music on peoples’ health may also assert that it is not a common procedure.
However, this idea can not go further being an immature claim because music is promoted as a technology for healing in hospitals, health clinics, day care facilities, schools, mental health centers and rehabilitation centers. Also in order to benefit from musical therapy, the patient does not have to have musical ability and it makes the music therapy more preferable. The implementation of music in the healthcare field keeps developing and spreading out dramatically.
To conclude, apart from all the proponents about the power of music in healthcare field, it is certain that influences of the music should not be underestimated. It assists people not only as a therapy but also in the operating room for surgeon or patient and for premature babies to recover faster and healthier which gives unique and incredible outcomes. As once Oliver Sacks said, “The power of music to integrate and cure… is quite fundamental. It is the profoundest nonchemical medication. ”(Awakenings).