Musicians On Call brings live bedside performances to veterans receiving care, including those residing in hospice units. Performers like volunteer guitarist Dante Ciolfi intentionally avoid reviewing patient medical charts so they can focus entirely on establishing an emotional connection through song. Clinical staff observe that this restorative approach helps hospitalized veterans actively process trauma and engage with the music. Music therapist Nicolette Rubin noted that these sessions uplift patient spirits, demonstrated when non-verbal veterans tap their hands to maintain the beat.
Key points
Volunteer bedside performances serve as a restorative intervention to help hospitalized v…: Volunteer bedside performances serve as a restorative intervention to help hospitalized veterans process emotional and physical trauma.
Musicians deliberately refrain from reading medical charts to center each patient interac…: Musicians deliberately refrain from reading medical charts to center each patient interaction purely on the musical connection.
Hospital staff observe that live music effectively reaches patients who cannot speak, ena…: Hospital staff observe that live music effectively reaches patients who cannot speak, enabling them to actively feel and express rhythm.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Dante Ciolfi unzips his guitar case in a courtyard of the Veterans Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
"I'm about to tune my guitar," he says.
He is getting ready to play some songs for patients in the hospice wing of the hospital. Ciolfi is a musician volunteer with Musicians On Call or MOC, a non-profit that brings live music to hospital patients nationwide, both bedside and virtually via zoom. The group's motto is "delivering the healing power of music." When Ciolfi isn't volunteering, he teaches computer science to graduate students.
He meets up with Ellen Morris, another volunteer with MOC. She trains musician volunteers on hospital protocols and guides them from room to room.
Once they reach the hospital's hospice unit, Morris takes the lead and knocks on a patient's room door. "Hi there, how are you doing today? My name is Ellen with Musicians on Call," she says, "I have my friend Dante here that would love to play a song for you today, would that be OK?"
The patient, 93-year old Army veteran Lawrence Ludden,…
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