Music therapy to promote psychological and physiological relaxation in palliative care patients: protocol of a randomized controlled trial

摘要

BackgroundMusic therapy is one of the most frequently used complementary therapies in different palliative care settings. Despite its long tradition and high acceptance by other health-care professionals, evidence on the effectiveness of music therapy interventions for terminally ill patients is rare. Recent reviews and health-care reports consistently point out the need of music therapists to provide an evidence-based rationale for their clinical treatments in this field. Therefore, the present study evaluates the psychological and physiological response of palliative care patients to a standardized music therapy relaxation intervention in a randomized controlled trial.