NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Music therapy can address a variety of physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs, making it an important tool at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
The program's success sometimes relies on community support to ensure music therapists can continue providing this meaningful service.
Even in the hospital's parking garage, the rhythmic sounds of carts rolling suggest that “music is all around us.”
Player above: You can watch and listen to the type of music therapy that those kids receive.
“The thing I’ve always loved about music is that it connects us with each other," said Emily Owens, a music therapist at the hospital.
The hospital's music therapists work together to bring joy to patients, recently getting help from Anna Clark, founder of the nonprofit Guitars 4 Gifts.
Clark’s organization, dedicated to providing instruments to students in need, has supported school programs across more than 30 states since 2011, aiming to break down financial barriers to music education.
This year, Clark’s organization expanded its mission by supporting Vanderbilt Hospital’s music therapy program. As part of this effort, Guitars 4 Gifts donated 40 guitars to the hospital, which patients and families can access during treatments.
Clark's donation allows the hospital to continue Guitars 4 Gifts' mission: giving all kids the opportunity to explore music.
Owens reflected on the impact music has on patients.
“I have patients that play instruments, and while they’re playing, they will share, ‘I wasn’t feeling pain as I was playing that music,’” she said.
Clark — who spent time at the hospital as a child — felt a personal connection to Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
“Everyone was always making me feel good and welcomed,” she said, adding that the guitars came from Kennedy Violins in Vancouver, Washington.
According to Owens, the 40 donated guitars will make a major difference in patient care.
“We can do therapeutic music instruction with them at the bedside, finding ways to learn instruments that may be comfortable for them.”
Now, the music therapy team doesn’t have to worry about having enough instruments, allowing them to focus on the music.
“These instruments are going to be accessible to people at the hospital who may not have access to these instruments at home,” Owens said.
The guitars made their way to Nashville with the help of U-Pack, a moving company that transported the instruments from Washington.
Nearly all the instruments that Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt music therapists use have either been donated or bought through grants.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at aaron.cantrell@newschannel5.com
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