Neurologic Music Therapy Pilot at the Regional Neurological Rehabilitation Unit in Homerton Hospital

We’re sponsoring a partnership between the Regional Neurological Rehabilitation Unit (RNRU) and Chiltern Music Therapy, to run a Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) pilot clinic.

The RNRU is a 27-bed rehabilitation unit based at Homerton Hospital in Hackney, London. It’s well known for using innovative rehabilitation techniques for patients affected by neurological injury and disease, in particular following traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Chiltern Music Therapy is a ground-breaking not-for-profit organisation. The organisation uses NMT techniques to support patients to meet their rehab goals in the functional domains of speech and language, sensorimotor, and cognitive skills.

As music stimulates multiple areas of the brain, NMT utilises the brain’s ability to ‘rewire’ itself. NMT enables greater engagement in and increased intensity of rehab, but is especially beneficial for hard-to-reach-patients and those not making gains via more traditional therapies.

The pilot clinic provides NMT to patients two days each week, delivered via one-to-one and group sessions with Elizabeth Nightingale, Neuro Services Lead at Chiltern Music Therapy.

Stephanie Edwards and Jodee Mayer, specialist solicitors at Irwin Mitchell, were thrilled to visit the unit over the summer and see the gains made in just one session…

Simon*

Simon was due to be discharged and was working on improving his independent mobility. His partner joined the session via Skype.

Simon only had the use of his left arm and leg following a stroke. To mobilise independently in his wheelchair, he needed to use his left arm to turn the wheel and at the same time use his left foot on the floor to help steer. But dividing his attention in this way was difficult for Simon.

Elizabeth strategically placed musical instruments so that when Simon reached for them it mimicked the positions he needed to self-propel. After a period of time practicing these movements, there was noticeable carryover in his ability to self-propel afterwards. His partner was understandably quite emotional to see what he’d achieved.

Pauline*

Pauline presented with difficulties with word-finding following a stroke. To complement her speech and language therapy (SLT) goals, Elizabeth created a fun task which involved Pauline coming up with words to replace set lyrics in ‘Independent Women’ by Destiny’s Child.

The session started with Pauline singing the original version and then working to generate words from set categories such as ‘footwear’, ‘clothing’ and ‘jewellery’ to create her own version of the song. This enabled an engaging and cognitively stimulating context for Pauline to practice and work on her word-finding difficulties.

Brenda*

Brenda had also suffered a stroke and was struggling with her walking. Her therapy team wanted to explore the impact of NMT on her walking, so a joint session was arranged with her physiotherapist.

Brenda was walking with the physiotherapist when we arrived. Her strides were uneven and appeared laboured, and she made it around 5m from her bed before turning around to head back.

With Elizabeth playing the piano, matching the speed to Brenda’s walking pace, Brenda’s strides were more even, she made it to around 15m, and the physiotherapist reported that Brenda needed less support.

After Brenda’s session, Elizabeth put on Whitney Houston and the bay had a celebratory dance party, with the other patients and staff joining in to celebrate. This was quite special, as it meant we could see the indirect effect the music had on patients that weren’t directly receiving therapy.

Atif*

This was Atif’s final session before discharge. Atif said ‘Hi’ as he entered the room and we discussed how even this simple phrase had improved significantly as a result of NMT.

He’d been working to remember his daughter’s names, using different melodies and tapping to stimulate the right side of the brain. We can only imagine how much that will mean to them when he comes home.

As it was Atif’s last session, he was asked to provide feedback. It was lovely to hear that the sessions helped him feel calmer and improve his mood, as well as the improvements he reported on his speech. He was emphatic felt that NMT was an important part of his therapy.

Elizabeth confirmed that she would be making recommendations for things he could do at home to continue his rehabilitation, as she does with many of her patients.

Jaq Twelftree, Clinical Lead for Neurorehabilitation at the RNRU, said:

“We are delighted to have this opportunity to work alongside the Chiltern Music Therapy team. In particular we are excited to see the value that music therapy can bring to our patients’ recoveries and to understand the breadth of neurological problems that can be impacted by this therapy.

“The positive contribution of music therapy in neuro rehabilitation is becoming better understood, but we have not had the opportunity to integrate music therapy into our rehabilitation programmes before. We are really looking forward to seeing our music therapist in action.”

*Names have been changed

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Neurologic Music Therapy Pilot at the Regional Neurological Rehabilitation Unit in Homerton Hospital

Simon*

Pauline*

Brenda*

Atif*

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About Irwin Mitchell

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