Open Lecture – You’re Once, Twice, Three Times…Stepping.
You're once, twice, three times stepping... - Music therapy and physiotherapy working in tandem for gait rehabilitation.
Presenters: Helen Lane, Music Therapist and Taryn Holman, Physiotherapist, Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability
Multi-disciplinary working offers endless opportunities to think outside the box when approaching interventions for neuro-rehabilitation, and none more so than when combining music therapy and physiotherapy. This lecture presented a case study of the combined use of Neurologic Music Therapy and gait training techniques, to address the physical rehabilitation needs of a patient following a left MCA stroke.
In joint sessions across a period of five months, music was used to provide an external cue for the sequencing of specific movements, thereby enabling the patient on hearing the music, to follow the rhythmic and melodic pattern required to produce a more fluid and complete execution.
Starting with the standing phase sessions slowly built on this using improvised and then familiar music, until the patient progressed from standing weight transfers, to walking with the support of two, all with the support of music.
Outcomes from sessions were positive with clear improvements in endurance, strength and fluidity and a reduction in therapist load. Motivation and mood levels were observed and patient-reported to have increased with the use of music for their physical rehabilitation, demonstrating the positive impact utilising and adapting multi-disciplinary working can have.
You can download the presentation slides here.