HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Make Music Day Huntsville encourages residents to let their talents shine all throughout the city. Huntsville Music Officer Matt Mandrella believes music can be a source of medicine even in places you may least expect. For instance, like a hospital room, "...and then we're also using Make Music Day Huntsville as a platform to drive more awareness to the great work of the Huntsville Hospital for music therapy programs and how they use music too as medicine to help heal people across the system here in North Alabama.
Huntsville Hospital MTBC Maegan McLaughlin says this is the music therapy program's third year participating in make music day. "I think we're up to 27 performers that are coming to the hospital, just between employees and outside performers, and I'm so excited!"
Huntsville Hospital's Music Therapy program started on 2007. Since then, McLaughlin has learned to communicate with patients and families through this universal avenue. "So one of the first questions I ask my patients when " see them is, 'What kind of music are you into?' I have been known to make up silly songs on the spot. I just created one a couple days ago with a patient who's working on that car and that's that like the c and the sounds, and we made up a silly song about a colorful kitty cat going on an adventure."
The music therapy program isn't just for one part of the hospital. McLaughlin says they visit patients in hospice and palliative care, outpatient pediatrics, neonatal ICU, pediatric ICU, and regular pediatrics.
And McLaughlin says never underestimate the power that music has in helping people reach their goals and she leaves us with true meaning behind music therapy. "Really, the heart of music therapy is that, that empathy of wanting to reach out and give a voice to those who who may not have one."