Music therapy is rarely available within the medical services in Malaysia. Hospitalized children experience a great deal of stress, anxiety, and pain due to unfamiliar environment, separation from the family, a variety of medical procedures and treatments, and the uncertainties of the illnesses. Music is often used to cope with both physical and psychological distress clinically because of its pervasiveness and familiarity. The purpose of this article is to elaborate the effectiveness of music therapy in addressing both physical and psychosocial needs of hospitalized children. The three case studies demonstrated how a variety of music therapy interventions are used to facilitate individualized goals and to improve the quality of life.
Suffering experiences are common phenomena in palliative care. In this study, we aim to explore the different patterns of suffering in palliative care. Adult palliative care patients were recruited from the University of Malaya Medical Centre. Suffering scores were charted 3 times a day for a week. The characteristics of the suffering charts were analyzed using SPSS. The patterns of suffering were analyzed using structural pattern recognition. A total of 53 patients participated. The overall trends of suffering were downward (64%), upward (19%), and stable (17%). Median minimum and maximum suffering scores were 2/10 and 6/10, with an average of 3.6/10. Nine patterns of suffering were recognized from categorizing two key characteristics of suffering (intensity and fluctuation)-named S1 to S9. Understanding the different patterns of suffering may lead to better suffering management.