Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility and preliminary effects of a vocal music therapy (VMT) program on chronic pain management. Design: A mixed methods intervention design was used in which qualitative data were embedded within a randomized controlled trial. Setting: An urban nurse-management health center on the East Coast of the United States. Subjects: Participants (N = 43) were predominantly Black (79%) and female (76.7%) with an average pain duration of 10 years. Intervention: Participants were randomly allocated to a 12-week VMT program or a waitlist control. Outcome measures: We tracked consent rate (percentage of participants enrolled out of total number screened), attrition rate, and treatment adherence. We used PROMIS Ò (Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System) tools to measure pain interference, pain-related self-efficacy, pain intensity, depression, anxiety, positive effect, and well-being, ability to participate in social activities, and satisfaction with social roles at baseline and week 12. VMT participants also completed the Patient Global Impression of Change Scale. We conducted semistructured interviews to better understand participants' experience of the intervention. Results: The consent rate was 56%. The attrition rate was 23%. Large treatment effects (partial eta squared) were obtained for self-efficacy (0.20), depression (0.26), and ability to participate in social activities (0.24). Medium effects were found for pain intensity (0.10), anxiety (0.06), positive effect, and well-being (0.06), and small effects for pain interference (0.03) and satisfaction with social roles (0.03). On average, participants felt moderately better after completion of the VMT program (M = 4.93, standard deviation = 1.98). Qualitative findings suggest that VMT resulted in better self-management of pain, enhanced psychological well-being, and stronger social and spiritual connections. Conclusions: Recruitment into the 12-week program was challenging, but quantitative and qualitative findings suggest significant benefits of VMT for chronic pain management.

e24119 Background: Chronic pain is one of the most feared symptoms in people with cancer. Although music therapy is frequently used for pain management in cancer care, there is a lack of knowledge of underlying mechanisms. Yet, it is well accepted that knowledge of mediators is essential for optimization of psychosocial treatment interventions. We conducted a multi-site randomized controlled trial to examine mediators hypothesized to account for the pain-reducing effects of interactive music therapy (IMT) in adults with advanced cancer. Methods: This study included adults with advanced cancer (stage III/IV) who had moderate to severe chronic pain caused by 1) locally advanced cancer that had extended to other organs/soft tissue or was impinging on/eroding the bone, 2) bone metastasis, or 3) soft tissue metastasis. We excluded adults with primary central nervous system (CNS) tumor, CNS metastatic disease, or hematologic malignancies. We randomized 92 participants to 6 individual IMT ( n = 45) or social attention control (SAC) ( n = 47) sessions. The mediators (anxiety, mood, pain-related self-efficacy and emotional support) and pain outcomes (pain intensity and pain interference) were measured at baseline, week 4, and week 6 using self-report measures. We included treatment expectancy, music reward, and adult playfulness as moderators. Follow-up interviews were conducted to examine congruence between the hypothesized mediation model and participants’ explanations of how IMT impacted their pain experience. Our target sample size was 100 to achieve 80% power to detect a medium effect at α = 0.05 and 28% attrition. We used ITT analyses and the mediation model per Preacher and Hayes to estimate the total and specific indirect effects of each hypothesized mediator individually. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Participants were 56±12 years old. Most were female (72%), white (44%) or Black (39%), and had stage IV cancer (75%). The most common types of cancer were breast (46%) and lung (13%). Self-efficacy was found to be a significant mediator for the effect of IMT on pain intensity (indirect effect ab = 0.79, 95% CI 0.01 to 1.82) and pain interference (indirect effect ab = 1.16, 95% CI 0.02 to 2.51), while anxiety, mood, and perceived support were not. The quantitative results were supported by the qualitative findings. None of the proposed moderators were found to be significant. However, we found that the mediating effect of pain-related self-efficacy on pain intensity and pain interference was significantly moderated by baseline pain interference. Conclusions: This study suggests that the impact of music therapy on chronic pain management is mediated through self-efficacy. This knowledge can help further optimize music therapy interventions for chronic pain management in people with advanced cancer by capitalizing on teaching music-based self-management techniques. Clinical trial information: NCT03432247 .

In this article, music therapy researchers and clinicians share lessons learned through engaging in collaborative research with healthcare providers in community settings. Practical aspects of conducting research in community health settings are discussed, including consulting on-site music therapists, healthcare providers, and administrators in the earliest stages of research planning; integration of research team members with community healthcare providers; and strategies for successful study implementation. We present our experiences of challenges surrounding the aspects of study implementation, such as recruitment, obtaining consent, and collecting outcome data, as well as opportunities that have resulted from our work, such as increased visibility for music therapy services, collaboration on protocol refinement, and continuing music therapy services beyond the study. Throughout the article, we refer to two research studies that illustrate the collaborative process as well as offer practical examples of challenges and problem-solving.

Purpose Increased student diversity in universities across the USA has increased the need for post-secondary educators to develop multicultural teaching competence (MTC). Most studies of MTC focus on educators teaching grades K-12. The purpose of this study is to determine how faculty members rate themselves in terms of MTC, what multicultural knowledge and skills faculty report and how they integrate these skills into their teaching practice and what barriers exist to developing and implementing MTC. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that impact undergraduate faculty integration of multicultural awareness and attitudes into their teaching practices to enhance student learning. Design/methodology/approach A convergent mixed methods study used survey and interview data from undergraduate faculty. Select items from the MTC Inventory (MTCI) and social justice scales (SJS) were administered. Interviews (N = 7) were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Quantitative and qualitative data were compared to examine convergence and divergence. Findings Quantitative results revealed undergraduate faculty’s awareness, knowledge and skills as indicated by percent agreement with items from the MTCI and SJS instruments. Qualitative findings included the following four themes: knowledge building, addressing diversity in the classroom, barriers and challenges, and needs and recommendations. Qualitative data corroborated or explained many of the quantitative results and provided insight into these trends and barriers that impact MTC. Originality/value This is the first study of its kind, to our knowledge, that has used a mixed methods research design to examine factors that impact MTCs and associated barriers among a sample of undergraduate faculty across disciplines in one urban university.

e14085 Background: Chronic pain related to advanced cancer is difficult to treat. In addition to traditional analgesics, non-pharmacological interventions, such as music therapy, may help alleviate pain in this population. Research studies to test the efficacy of these non-pharmacological interventions are necessary and important. However, recruiting patients with advanced cancer to participate in such interventions can be challenging. Identifying effective sources of referrals and barriers to participation may help increase recruitment rates in the future. Methods: We recruited patients with advanced cancer (stage III or IV) with chronic pain from two major hospital systems to participate in a pain management interventional study. The experimental group received individualized music therapy, while the control group received talk therapy. Participants attended six weekly sessions at the hospital and were compensated for time and travel. Recruitment methods included referrals from care teams, advertisement through flyers and posters, EMR chart reviews, and in-person recruitment at multiple infusion centers. Missing data was excluded from analyses. Chi-square tests assessed significant differences between groups. Results: Of 594 patients that were referred to the study, 7% enrolled (n = 40), 35% declined (n = 208), and 58% were ineligible (n = 346). Forty-seven percent (n = 19) of enrolled participants were female; race/ethnic distributions were the following: African American/Black (55%; n = 22), Caucasian/White (28%; n = 11), or other (17%; n = 7). The most effective recruitment method was through self-referral; of the 40 patients enrolled in the study, 9 (23%) were enrolled through this method. There were no statistically significant differences between referral source and enrollment. The top three reasons patients declined to participate included lack of interest (32%; n = 67), lack of time and/or energy (28%; n = 59), and lack of transportation (16%, n = 34). Conclusions: Although there were no differences in referral sources, more patients were enrolled through self-referral or in-person recruitment, showing the power of personal motivation and personal touch. While lack of participation due to interest, time, or energy are hard to overcome, future research should consider campaigns to reach patients who are motivated to participate. In addition to referrals, resources for in-person recruitment and transportation to help alleviate barriers to research participation should be considered.