Therapy
Rehabilitation journeys are increasingly being guided by the rhythmic interventions of music therapists but challenges in opening up access remain; as Chroma's Daniel Thomas explains.
Daniel Thomas, managing director of art therapies provider Chroma, developed an interest in music at a young age. However, he’s concerned that young people today aren’t exposed to enough music education, and that this will have a knock- on effect on music therapy, which can help a range of people, including those with a brain injury. “There have been massive cutbacks, a killing off of music in schools,” Thomas says, “Which has had a huge effect over many years as that side of school life has been systematically eked away and cut back.
By Daniel Thomas, joint managing director of Chroma Therapies
With its ability to produce new neural pathways, Neurologic Music Therapy is able to encourage movement, co-ordination, improve speech and language, and improve the ability to read/feel emotions, reactions and more, in people living with catastrophic injuries. This is because music automatically connects to the brain. And this automaticity is what makes music so powerful. Music also has to ability to push your training capabilities farther and faster especially in running. This is why a running playlist is the ideal accompaniment to any runner.
Research into spinal cord injury (SCI) has continues at pace, with several exciting new findings in recent months, summarised here.
Every patient seen by a Chroma is different. Each day is never the same. That’s certainly the case for Lucy, who suffered a stroke. She presented to A&E with dense left-sided weakness, aphasia and vomiting. CT scans revealed that she had suffered from a right intracerebral haemorrhage. Lucy was referred to Chroma for Neurologic Music Therapy to address poor breath support, reduced voice volume and monotonous voice quality.
Suffering a TBI can affect people in different ways. In some cases, the patient can be affected so severely that they are deemed to be in a vegetative state. This is the case for many patients referred to Chroma. Ahmed was admitted to the prolonged disorders of consciousness unit for assessment at a private London hospital and was deemed to be in a vegetative state. He was unable to track objects, localise sounds or recognise objects or familiar voices. This is an all too familiar case seen by therapists within Chroma and their work in the private healthcare sector.
Goal setting is always a hot topic in neurorehabilitation – it has, in many ways, become much more than the sum of its parts and, as a concept, it is saturated with literature. There is frequently new research evaluating components of goal setting or describing emerging ideas in the field, and this can be difficult to navigate, even with all the time in the world. As clinicians, however, there is rarely ever any spare time at all. If we listen to what we are told about how important goal setting is for our service users and teams, we need to know exactly what it is, why it matters, and how we can do a good job of it.
Martin was particularly hard to reach. Aggressive and unpredictable in his behaviour after a brain injury, those tasked with working with him were at a loss as to how to help. Nothing seemed to work. But a chance remark that he used to enjoy cycling when he was younger changed his life trajectory and got the gears of his meaningful recovery into motion. He was introduced to Dave Buchan, a specialist cycling coach and mentor, and began to engage in ways the people around him had never imagined possible. From the full-of-anger man he had become after his injury, through the medium of cycling, his behaviour began to change.
Suffering a stroke is a frightening event. They occur suddenly and without warning, usually caused by a blockage of arteries leading to the brain, which is known as an ischaemic stroke. Another, less common stroke, can be caused by bleeding into brain tissue when a blood vessel bursts, but ischaemic strokes remain the most common. Regardless of which stroke is experienced, it always affects how the body functions.
As healthcare professionals, we are always kind, right? We always look at both sides of the argument, never judge others or get frustrated with our clients… Well, maybe not. Of course, we are human and just as easily swayed by our foibles as the next person. However, and this may sound obvious, when working with vulnerable clients and families as we do, there is an even bigger need for kindness to be at the core of our interactions. It was whilst standing in the school yard with my children that I first started to really think about this. We spend maybe five or ten minutes each day in the yard all of the other parents.
Chroma, a provider of neurologic music therapy (NMT) is working with children, and their families, recovering from acquired brain injuries or auto immune conditions. York-based charity Jessie’s Fund originally funded the yearlong feasibility study and following independent evaluation has agreed with the hospital’s trust to extend the project for another year. Chroma’s music therapist will work as part of the multi-disciplinary team to support paediatric in-patients at Great North Children’s Hospital.
