Music therapy can assist ife review, a universal process, for all people facing death.

1. Musical Life Review
in Hospice
Yumiko Sato, MA, MT-BC
Music Therapy Services

2. Life Review
 Evaluation of one’s life
 Universal process for people facing
death
 May take place at various levels of
consciousness
 May contribute to the reintegration of
one’s personality

3. Reminiscence
 Simpler concept than life review
 Does not require evaluation process
 Less purposeful and structured than life
review

4. Application of Life Review
 Literature remains within the field of
gerontology
 No model has become standardized

5. Musical Life Review Model
(MLR Model)
 Stimuli
 Theme
 Response
 Evaluation
 Therapeutic Outcomes

6. Stimuli
 Music
 Art
 Pictures
 Literature
 Poetry

7. Theme
 Family
 Community
 Life Role
 Major Life Events
 Spirituality
 Heritage

8. Response
 Happy memories
 Appreciation, Satisfaction
 Nostalgia
 Regret, Anxiety, Guilt
 Unfinished Business
 Depression, Despair

9. Evaluation
 Person Centered Music Therapy
 Creative Expressions
 Sharing of Memories

10. Therapeutic Outcomes
 Sustained hope
 Positive changes in mood
 Increased understanding of a life’s meaning
 Emotional intimacy between patients and
loved ones
 Working through emotions
 Awareness of what to do with the time left
 Increased rapport

11. Therapeutic Considerations
 Musical elements
 Questions to elicit discussion
 Condition of the patient
 Skills of the therapist

12. Reference
 Butler, R. N. (1963). The life review: An
interpretation of reminiscence in the aged.
Psychiatry, 26, 65-76.
 Haight, B. K. & Haight, B.S. (2007). The
handbook of structured life review.
Baltimore, MD: Health Professions Press.
 Sato, Y (2011). Musical Life Review in
Hospice, Music Therapy Perspectives, 29
(1), 31-38.