Soothing
Transitions

Soothing Transitions is a donor-driven program which delivers the Room 217 Music Collections of music to hospice palliative care (HPC) settings across Canada. Soothing Transitions provides an opportunity to remove funding as a barrier and increase accessibility of Room 217’s benefit-designed Music Collections.

Music and the Circle of Care
In HPC, live and recorded music can be useful to everyone in the circle of care, including those who are dying, family members, friends, loved ones, clinicians, volunteers, grief counsellors, and spiritual care providers. For those at end-of-life, music can provide comfort and alleviate distressing symptoms and may provide comfort when words are inadequate or inappropriate. Music can help with legacy and grief work and be used in dignity therapy. The use of music in palliative care has been shown to assist with relaxation, improved breathing and relationship completion. Deborah Salmon, a Montreal-based palliative music therapist believes that “the very breadth and depth of music makes it a wonderful tool at end-of-life by promoting relaxation, pain control, a sense of well-being and support of emotional and spiritual expression. It is on this premise that Room 217 has created its Music Care Collections, a total of twenty-four one-hour music albums designed to support the psychosocial and spiritual needs the circle of care. Using familiar music and sounds with a mix of styles, Room 217 music is deliberately produced with defined therapeutic and artistic values. 

The need
All Canadians have the right to quality end-of-life care. Canadians living in rural and remote areas have limited access to HPC services. Residential hospices, while partially government-funded, must fundraise a substantial portion of operating costs. Community hospices often provide services in private homes, relying on volunteers. Palliative care rooms or units are found in hospitals and long-term care homes. In each of these HPC settings, funding is insufficient to cover all costs throughout the dying trajectory that are non-medical in nature. With the distribution of the Room 217 Music Collections, more people will experience improved quality of life and care in the end-of-life journey.

She was breathing so peacefully I barely noticed she passed away. She had been straining to breathe all day, almost gasping for air and rattling. The even and consistent distribution of medication along with the Room 217 music made a visible difference to ease her breathing. The nurse commented to me that it must have been the music that allowed her to pass away. -P.K., Family Caregiver