Music therapy in children's hospices: An evaluative survey of provision

•22 Music therapists took part in a nationwide survey of music therapy provision.•14 Hospices with no music therapy provision took part in telephone interviews.•Hospices without music therapy were positive about the use of music and interested in future posts.•Flexibility was key in responding to the shifting needs of the families attending the hospices.•Parent shares how music deepened a family's relationship and sustains them in grief.

This paper presents the results of a survey of the range of music therapy practice in children's hospices in the UK. Music therapists are challenged to work with children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions during short periods of respite care over several years or at end of life. Flexibility is fundamental to working both individually and in small groups in response to the shifting needs of the children and their families. In the context of a children's hospice music therapists are called upon to work creatively with siblings and family members and members of the multidisciplinary team in addition to the children themselves. A questionnaire and focus group for music therapists working in the children's hospices provided evidence of the range of work, priorities and future plans for development. Telephone interviews with specialist staff at children's hospices where music therapists were not currently working provided evidence of how music and musical activities were perceived and utilised, with any plans for future provision for a music therapy service and some of the practical and resource issues being itemised.