As the global Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic transforms our society, music therapists must adapt service delivery models that ensure client safety. Given the prevalence of COVID-19 in our communities and lack of personal protective equipment in many settings, music therapists are faced with the need to shift delivery models in order to provide safe and relevant services. Telehealth is one solution to these current service delivery challenges. Music therapists possess a depth of practice-based knowledge and understanding of client populations, which enables them to develop virtual services, matching both the clinicians’ and clients’ technical capabilities. Developed during the initial wave of COVID-19 infections in the United States, this article describes the coauthors’ three-tiered scaffold model intended to support the program development and deployment of virtual music therapy (VMT) services. The model describes an approach to developing VMT services that directs the clinician’s goals of care in formats that are accessible, appropriate, and best meet the patient/client’s needs and abilities. The severity and lasting nature of this worldwide health crisis and its disruption of traditional service delivery models require clinicians and researchers to develop the most effective uses of VMT while considering its limits with regard to clinical populations and need areas.

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text.Adult patients with moderate-to-severe symptoms receiving music therapy in community hospitals reported clinically significant mean reductions in pain (2.04), anxiety (2.80), and stress (3.48).

Background: Music is a safe and cost-effective intervention that can reduce postoperative pain and anxiety. We investigated the effects of music therapy on postoperative recovery in patients undergoing robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP). Methods: Subjects were males 18 years and older undergoing RALP at a single tertiary care institution. Patients were randomized to music or control groups. The music group received 30 minutes of music in the recovery area and on postoperative day (POD) 1, while the control group was not provided postoperative music. Inpatient narcotic use (morphine milligram equivalent, or MME) and outpatient narcotic use were measured, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) survey was completed on POD 1 and POD 7 by an inpatient advanced practitioner (AP). T-test and Chi-square were used to compare the groups. Linear regression was used to adjust for age, blood loss, and inpatient MME. Results: A total of 40 patients were prospectively recruited. There was no statistically significant difference in the hourly MME (2.06 [0.71–3.17] vs. 1.55 [0.83- 3.37]) or total MME (49.52 [17–76] vs. 37.25 [20-69]) used in the music vs. non-music arms, respectively. Evaluation of STAI questionnaire revealed no overall differences in anxiety levels among the two groups on POD 1 or POD 7. After adjusting for age, blood loss, and inpatient MME use, patients assigned to the music intervention had a 26% reduction in post-hospitalization use. Conclusion: Our prospective randomized study suggests that music can be an AP-driven adjunct to facilitate postoperative patient comfort and reduce narcotic use upon discharge in prostate cancer patients.