O canto do cisne: desvelando a percepção de pessoas com câncer e em cuidados paliativos sobre música terapêutica.

Abstract

In the context of palliative care, music therapy is the use of sounds and music in a relationship involving patient and musician, with the aim of offering affective support and encouraging the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being of patients with life-threatening illnesses and who may be experiencing terminality. The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of patients with cancer and palliative care in relation to therapeutic music as a care practice. This is a care-research, with a mixed design, which was carried out in a philanthropic hospital in the city of Campina Grande-PB, with cancer patients and palliative care patients. Three sessions of therapeutic music interventions were carried out, with the verification of vital signs and application of the Edmonton Symptom Scale before and after each intervention, and, at the end, interviews were conducted, analyzed from the Bardin technique in the light of the Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring. Ten patients with cancer and in palliative care participated in the research, eight females and two males with an average age of 47 years. Based on the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, the study showed that music therapy proved to be effective as an integrative and complementary practice carried out at the institution, since it reduced physical discomforts, improved aspects related to mental health, rescued and strengthened spirituality of patients and provided integration between the multidisciplinary team of the institution. It is concluded that music therapy is an integrative and complementary practice that provides a loving environment and allows authentic care for patients who are at the end of life.