Bianca Castro

Bedside Music Program Brings Peace to Patients

Music has the power to lift spirits and can even help heal the body, and that's why Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas is offering a different kind of bedside service for its patients.

Some of the proven benefits of music therapy are said to be relieving anxiety and stress, even reducing muscle tension and stabilizing breathing and heart rates.

Tony Arant doesn't push the typical medical instruments through the hospital halls. He says his keyboard can help heal just the same.

"I played for a patient in a coma. I played for her 'Beauty and the Beast," said Arant. "She opened her eyes and looked at me and said, 'Beauty and the Beast.'"

Arant is a certified music practitioner, and for two years he's been playing at the bedside of critically ill and hospice patients.

"Music helps people relax. It relieves anxiety, distracts them from pain," said Arant.

Mary Lebus is a harpist and also a music practitioner.

"It helps me as much as it helps the patients, because I did go through a period of depression and music is what lifted me out of it," said Lebus.

Live therapeutic music can reduce awareness of pain and relax the body, according to the Music for Healing and Transition Program.

Patients say they feel the music's effects immediately.

"If I'm having a bad day, it can just perk me up a little bit," said Christina Felan.

"It's a break for me. I love him coming in and playing," said Donald Rogers.

For them, it provides comfort when they need it the most.

Certified music practitioners are specially trained to offer tailored treatment for individual patients.

They typically work in hospice programs, cancer centers and nursing homes.

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