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Music’s relevance for adolescents and young adults with cancer: a constructivist research approach

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Abstract

Purpose

Music is one of the most widely used activities amongst young people, significant in personal and group identity, motivation, physical release, and emotional support. Adolescents and young adults with cancer (AYA) require specialized care because of intensified challenges related to developmental vulnerability, treatment toxicity effects, and slower improvements in survival rates compared to other age groups. To advance effective supportive care for AYA, understanding their thoughts about music is necessary. This study examines AYAs’ perspectives about music’s role in their lives.

Methods

A constructivist research approach with grounded theory design was applied. Twelve people, 15 to 25 years old, known to onTrac@PeterMac Victorian Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer Service, participated. Respondents completed a brief music demographic questionnaire and participated in a semi-structured interview. Qualitative inter-rater reliability was integrated.

Results

Participants mostly reported music’s calming, supportive, and relaxing effects, which alleviated hardship associated with their cancer diagnoses. Themes encompassed: music backgrounds, changed “musicking”, endurance and adjustment, time with music therapists, and wisdom. Music provided supportive messages, enabled personal and shared understandings about cancer’s effects, and elicited helpful physical, emotional, and imagery states. Music therapy could also promote normalized and supportive connections with others. A musician, however, struggled to get music “back” post-treatment. Supportive music-based strategies were recommended for other AYA and their health care providers.

Conclusions

Music can signify and creatively enable AYAs’ hope, endurance, identity development, and adjustment through cancer treatment and post-treatment phases. Health professionals are encouraged to support AYAs’ music-based self-care and “normalized” activities.

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Notes

  1. “Music therapy is the planned and creative use of music to attain and maintain health and well-being”. It is an allied health profession provided in Australia and over 40 countries [12].

  2. This section is informed by literature discussing adolescents’ and youths’ music usage but is regarded as applicable to the adolescent and young adult group discussed in this paper

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the 12 people who participated in this study and Annette Baron for the helpful feedback. Dr. Clare O’Callaghan’s contribution was enabled through a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Post Doctoral Fellowship (Palliative Care, 2008–2009).

Conflict of interest and statement about data

The authors had no conflict of interest in this study. They all had full control, that is, access to all primary data, and agree to allow the Journal to review the data if requested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Caritas Christi Hospice, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

    Clare O’Callaghan

  2. Department of Medicine and Faculty of VCA & Music, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Clare O’Callaghan

  3. Social Work Department, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Locked Bag 1, A’Beckett St, Victoria, Australia, 8006

    Clare O’Callaghan, Clare O’Callaghan & Philippa Barry

  4. onTrac@PeterMac Victorian Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer Service, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Locked Bag 1, A’Beckett St, Victoria, Australia, 8006

    Kate Thompson

Authors
  1. Clare O’Callaghan
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  2. Philippa Barry
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Correspondence to Clare O’Callaghan.

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O’Callaghan, C., Barry, P. & Thompson, K. Music’s relevance for adolescents and young adults with cancer: a constructivist research approach. Support Care Cancer 20, 687–697 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-011-1104-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-011-1104-1

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