The pilot was delivered under the Chiltern-MusAbility partnership which enables increased access across the UK for people in need of specialist Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) support. The project lead was Neurologic Music Therapist, Roz Cabrita.
Patient referrals to NMT were made by Physiotherapists, Speech & Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Rehab Assistants and those identified directly by the NMT.
An aphasia-friendly 1-10 rating scale was used to monitor patient mood at the beginning and end of sessions. Data showed 95% of patients accessing NMT had improved in mood following sessions. No negative impact on mood was evidenced. Aphasia-friendly questionnaires were also carried out with patients who had accessed NMT sessions. 100% of patients agreed that they would like to come to music therapy again.
All staff agreed or strongly agreed that NMT was effective for improving physical function, speech, cognitive skills, mood, and emotional expression for patients on the unit and that NMT opened up new ways of working in their therapy disciplines.