The acceptability of Songs of Love for youth living with chronic pain

Elizabeth Donovan; Vanya Green; Greg Feldman; Raffi Tachdjian; Caitlin Curry; Charlotte Rice; Lonnie K. Zeltzer

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2023-0176

Article

The acceptability of Songs of Love for youth living with chronic pain

Elizabeth Donovan , Vanya Green , Greg Feldman , Raffi Tachdjian , Caitlin Curry , Charlotte Rice and Lonnie K. Zeltzer

Published/Copyright: February 9, 2024

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From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 36 Issue 2

Abstract

Objectives

Music is helpful to young people in healthcare contexts, but less is known about the acceptability of music-based interventions for youth living at home with chronic pain who may be struggling to attend school and participate in social activities. The Songs of Love (SOL) foundation is a national nonprofit organization that creates free, personalized, original songs for youth facing health challenges. The aims of this study were (1) to assess acceptability of SOL from the perspective of youth with chronic pain receiving a song and singer-songwriters who created the songs, and (2) to explore the role of music more generally in the lives of young people living with pain.

Methods

Twenty-three people participated. Fifteen youth (mean age 16.8) were interviewed and received a song, and six singer-songwriters were interviewed about creating the songs. (Two additional people participated in pilot interviews.) Acceptability was assessed by (1) proportion of youth who participated in a second interview about their song and (2) results of reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) to determine acceptability. Themes addressing the role of music in the lives of youth with pain were also explored using RTA.

Results

The program was acceptable as 12 of 15 youth (80 %) participated in second interviews and themes met the definition of acceptability. Three themes addressing the role of music in the lives of youth living with pain were identified.

Conclusions

This is the first report of the acceptability and experience of SOL and contributes to research on the benefits of music for pain management.

Keywords: pain; music; complementary

Corresponding author: Elizabeth Donovan, PhD, Department of Psychology, Simmons University, 300 Fenway, Boston 02115, MA, USA, Phone: +1 617 521 2604, Fax: +1 617 521 3199, E-mail: donoe@simmons.edu

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Georgia Weston, LCSW, and the research team at CHYP for all their work, to Sarah Martin, PhD, for her guidance early in the project, and to the Songs of Love foundation.

Research ethics: The research related to human use has complied with all the relevant national regulations, institutional policies, and in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration and has been approved by the authors’ Institutional Review Boards (Simmons University, IRB-20-125).
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
Research funding: Authors have no funding to declare.

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Received: 2023-10-29

Accepted: 2024-01-08

Published Online: 2024-02-09

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2023-0176

Keywords for this article

pain; music; complementary