Edie playing at the bedside of her dear friend, Phyllis Koiwai, as she lay dying.
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Bedside Harp® Moments:
These notes, written by our professional and intern harp therapists as they performed rounds at our host facilities, offer the best understanding of the power of a little harp in healthcare.
Older woman sitting in a big chair at the bedside, looking rather depressed but smiled as I walked into the room and said she was the patient I was sent to play for. She said she didn’t have any preference—likes everything. I noodled and then played “Edelweiss.” She hummed along and leaned back in the chair, almost sprawling, and looked very relaxed. She continued to sing along to popular songs, occasionally breaking off the hum, almost as if meditating. A visitor came in and sat on the bed, nodding to the music and smiling. They asked some questions and when I stood to leave, the patient said, “You turned my day around. I was feeling so sorry for myself I didn’t know what to do. You made me hope I could get better. Thank you.”
The patient’s wife caught my eye and she smiled. I asked if she would like me to come in to play. She agreed. The patient, a man in his 40s, was half-sitting up in bed. As I played, they both said, “beautiful.” The patient and his wife both closed their eyes as if to drink in the harp sounds. When the patient opened his eyes, he looked intently at me. As I continued to play, both began to cry. (This was a very tender experience.) When I left they thanked me.
An older man was seated in a geri chair looking a little uncomfortable. Standing around him were three adult daughters, one of whom said, “Look, Dad, a harp!” and asked me in. She said he had no preferences so I played some familiar songs. Everyone was smiling and one daughter leaned over the back of the chair with her arm around his neck, one was swaying to the music. As I started to back out of the room the patient said, “Can you play ‘Danny Boy’?” I started into it slowly and in seconds, two of the girls were in tears. He was smiling and moving his foot to the music. He thanked me and said, “Bless you,” as I left. A bit later, one daughter came to me at the elevator and said, “You made a truly beautiful moment back there for my family.”
Patient appeared anxious; his voice was high-pitched, laughing as RN hooked him up to dialysis machine. I provided a cradle of sound for stress reduction. The patient’s anxiety level was high; he was friendly but nervous. I played modal impressions with familiar songs. He requested Barbershop-type music and I played several selections, gradually slowing the beat. As I played, his neck muscles and breathing became more relaxed and he began to sing along! It was so beautiful. The patient became less stressed, reminiscent of happier times and participated in the session!
Nurse called me into Pediatric Emergency; it was chaotic. Children under 3 and several babies were screaming. The wait was very long and parents were angry. The responses to harp music were: in adults it seemed to assuage anger and in the younger children it put them to sleep. I played lullabies, then entertained the older kids by having them play “guess my song.”