Standley, J. M. (2003). Music therapy with premature infant: Research and developmental interventions. Silver Spring, MD: The American Music Therapy Association, Inc. 175 pages. ISBN 1-884914-09-8. $50.00

Abstract

Standley, J. M. (2003). Music therapy with premature infants: Research and developmental interventions. Silver Spring, MD: The American Music Therapy Association, Inc. 175 pages. ISBN 1-884914-09-8. $50.00. Clinical practice with premature a growing area of interest with music therapists due in large part to the pioneering research of Jayne Standley. After years of research with this population Dr. Standley has written an excellent resource to support the clinical training and knowledge base of music therapy with premature infants. In the preface, Dr. Standley states that this book is intended for the music therapy practitioner, neonatal specialists, and/or parents of premature infants (p. xvii). It clearly written in a style that readable and understandable to each of these audiences. It contains a wealth of information in a small number of pages, making accessible to the busy clinician, medical personnel or parent. The background on the application of music therapy techniques informative to the medical staff. Parents will benefit from the overview of information on third trimester fetal development and the use of music as a developmental intervention. Clinicians will find useful the overview of medical music therapy in Chapter 2 in preparing inservices to medical staff, as well as general information for music therapy in a hospital setting, with particular emphasis on Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The clear and organized use of tables and figures throughout the book make this an excellent reference tool. Chapter 1, Third Trimester Fetal Development, contains basic information valuable to novice neonatal music therapists, music therapy students and parents of in the NICU. It provides a representative description of the medical complications and care related to premature birth as well as a summary of developmental changes by gestational age. Medical language clearly defined making easy to understand. The section, Developmental Intervention in the NICU, describes assessment, treatment planning, and the phases of developmental intervention. There a nice delineation of developmental intervention stages and the appropriate types of early intervention practices currently being implemented. The developmental stages are broken into phases with a description of physiological development and intervention strategies to support the medical and developmental needs of premature infants. This section limited in that does not discuss developmental care as a treatment philosophy in the NICU. Developmental care theories and techniques continue to grow in acceptance and are being implemented in full or in part in nurseries across the country. While stress behaviors are listed, self-regulatory behaviors are notably missing. Self-regulatory responses, such as hands to face, arms to midline and sucking, are indicative of an infant who accepting of stimuli. Greater depth to the self-regulatory behaviors would support the statement that it imperative to closely observe the infant's cues and control the interaction to avoid overstimulation (p. 32), making easier for the clinician to read the infant's behavior cues and modify the stimuli. In addition, the idea that unchanging music promotes homeostasis during other forms of stimulation and assists this habituation process (p. 32) would have greater credibility with supportive evidence. The treatment planning and documentation materials in Chapter 1 provide excellent models for facility specific documentation tools. Chapter 2, Medical Music Therapy, offers a general overview of medical music therapy with a sample of possible treatment goals throughout the hospital. This chapter briefly, but effectively, distinguishes the difference between music in medicine (e.g., concerts provided in the hospital) and music therapy. The introductory paragraph of Chapter 3, Music Therapy in the NICU, states that the interventions discussed in this chapter are those that are supported by research and are implemented by specially trained qualified music therapists. …