Music therapy is used to help alleviate pain, improve a young patient’s mood, stimulate movement and communication, calm anxieties and fears, promote relaxation, and make the hospital feel more like home. The Music Rx unit is a high-tech, interactive studio on wheels that includes everything necessary for music therapy, both in group settings and one-on-one. It holds a variety of instruments, including drums, keyboards and guitars, as well as Apple GarageBand software for recording music, a custom-built iPod docking station with 10 iPods to loan, and a large LCD screen that plays hundreds of music videos.

The Music Rx cart was donated to UCLA’s Child Life/Child Development Services department by the Children’s Cancer Association (CCA), with support from the Starlight Children’s Foundation. UCLA is one of first hospitals to participate in the CCA’s nationwide expansion of the Music Rx program, which began in Portland, Oregon. A CCA study of Music Rx showed that the program had a positive effect on a child’s mood, family bonding and pain scores, compared with those who did not receive the music therapy.

A second component of the Music Rx program features a live music element, with professional harpists, cellists, flautists and other community musicians playing soothing music in the pediatric hallways.

When children are seriously ill, they need more than conventional medicine. Music therapy may be the answer.

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