Embodied, Transpersonal Agency: Singing at the Bedside.

Area of Science:

• Medical Sociology
• Medical Anthropology
• Qualitative Health Research

Background:

• Palliative care focuses on improving quality of life for patients with serious illnesses.
• The role of non-pharmacological interventions, such as music, in end-of-life care is gaining attention.
• Threshold Choir offers a unique model of bedside singing for hospice patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze embodied, transpersonal agency within the practice of Threshold Choir singing.
• To explore the effects of bedside singing on hospice patients and volunteer singers.
• To understand the potential of empathetic exchange in palliative care settings.

Main Methods:

• Multi-year, Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved ethnographic study.
• Combination of rhetorical analysis, autoethnography, and ethnography.
• Data collection through interviews, surveys, and field notes.

Main Results:

• Bedside singing by Threshold Choir impacts patients and singers emotionally and physically.
• The practice facilitates an empathetic exchange between singers and patients.
• Embodied, transpersonal agency emerges for both singers and those they sing for.

Conclusions:

• Threshold Choir singing serves as a meaningful intervention in palliative care.
• Bedside singing can decrease patient discomfort and enhance well-being.
• The practice cultivates a unique form of embodied, transpersonal agency in end-of-life care.