baylor scott & white health Health Care Reimagined musical medicine
Anthony Arant was a middle school teacher in Alaska in 2013 . That summer , he visited his 90-year-old mother , who has Alzheimer ’ s disease , in her nursing home . She was having a terrible day and hardly talked . He had an idea .
Anthony sat his mother in a chair next to the home ’ s piano and played “ Sunny Side of the Street .” She immediately sat up and started tapping her foot . As he continued playing songs from her era , she talked about the music and the memories it brought back . “ It was a remarkable experience ,” Anthony said . “ On the flight home I decided that this is what I want to do .”
He completed a rigorous clinical musician certification program and moved to Farmers Branch to be near his children and grandchildren . He now rolls his piano around Baylor University Medical Center ’ s hospitals and plays for patients at their bedsides .
When doctors and nurses prescribe music for their patients , Anthony determines the most meaningful songs to play from the hundreds he has memorized . “ The music is also very meaningful to family and visitors , especially in end-of-life cases ,” he said . “ Families are in a heartbreaking situation , and the music often allows them to cry . That ’ s very powerful .”
The therapeutic music is part of the Arts in Medicine Program at the Virginia R . Cvetko Patient Education & Support Center in the Baylor Charles A . Sammons Cancer Center at Dallas . Nearly 12,000 patients receive treatment annually at the Center . More than half of them take advantage of the program .
Along with Arts in Medicine Program personnel , Center staff include a medical director , program manager , nurse educator , chaplains , social workers , a psychologist and trained cancer survivor volunteers . There are 13 support groups tailored to specific types of cancer . Classes — all free — include yoga , meditation and healthy cooking . Participants also learn how to deal with the side effects of treatment .
“ Trust is being placed in me to be with patients at their most vulnerable and scary times . I ’ m honored by that .”
— Anothony Arant
Doctors and nurses prescribe music as one of the therapies patients receive through the Arts in Medicine Program at the Baylor Sammons Cancer Center .
5