The National Endowment for the Arts for Music Therapy has chosen Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital (MFB) as one of 168 hospitals nationwide to receive a grant for its music therapy program.
The $10,000 grant will allow MFB to provide more patients with on-site music therapy as they recover from serious injury or illness and will help support the addition of a part-time music therapist . According to MFB, music therapy “strikes a patient’s heartstrings” and is a key part of patient care in the hospital.
Maria Besta, head of recreation therapy, wheelchairs and adapted sports at MFB, said the hospital started offering music therapy to patients in 2018, and the team’s only full-time therapist worked with hundreds of patients, but many others have requested it.
“We are so happy and honored that the National Endowment for the Arts appreciates how much music therapy can help our patients,” Besta said. “Now we can help even more patients recover through music therapy as part of their rehabilitation.”
The National Endowment for the Arts has distributed nearly $1.7 million in Challenge America grants, which primarily support small and medium-sized organizations for projects that extend the arts to populations that have limited access due to geography, ethnicity, economics or disability.
Music therapists are board-certified and work individually and in tandem with occupational therapists, physical therapists, recreation therapists and speech language pathologists. Therapists use a variety of techniques in live music sessions with patients of all ages and various diagnoses.
More information about the program is available here.
