In Between: Music Therapy with Inpatients Awaiting a Heart Transplant

Abstract

(from the chapter) Discusses music therapists' experiences at the "Heart Failure Hotel," which is a prominent heart transplant center in a university hospital. Various life journeys have brought the hotel's guests here: a congenital heart defect, chronic heart problems, a series of heart attacks, a simple virus, chemotherapy. Whatever the reason, their present situation is the same at this hotel: their hearts are broken, and they wait for a heart transplant. Most need mechanical devices, such as a left or right ventricle assist device to stay alive. Most realize that their stay is indefinite, for they cannot survive at home without the intensive medical care that the hotel provides. These guests are young and old alike, all races, nationalities and creeds. Their world is an artificial, oppressive and constricted one. Their existence can best be described as "in-between" life and death. What sustains them? For each, the details are different, but for most it is the same: love and spirit. The chapter offers reflections on the power of music therapy in this setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)