Healing music
Volunteers in the Musicians On Call program—an initiative of WXPN, Penn's award-winning FM radio station—visit patients, bringing a little bit of music, a little bit of peace, and a short but welcome break from the monotony of hospital life.
Launched in 2004 and modeled after a similar program in New York City, WXPN's Musicians On Call now serves four hospitals in the Philadelphia area, each of which hosts its musicians once a week.
Lynn Schuchter, chief of hematology at HUP, says the music has helped her patients open up emotionally, confront their fears, and finally talk about things that they hadn't wanted to before. "I think it really unlocks entry into a lot of things that they've been thinking about," she says. "It helps with the healing process. It helps create a healing environment. It's really remarkable."
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