www.theleaven.com | Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas | Vol. 32, No. 14 NOVEMBER 5, 2010
Mary and Bill Fields share a laugh with music therapist Nora Drbal recently at Delmar Gardens nursing center in Overland Park. Mary has had Alzheimer’s disease for more than six years and rarely speaks.
The power of music Music therapy brings joy to the dying
W
STORY by L AJEAN RAU-KEENE
hen Nora Drbal was nine years old, she sang for a dying woman. The experience never left her. Her family was visiting her great-aunt, so her grandmother could say goodbye to her sister. The woman’s room was near the main entry of the farmhouse. “It was not isolated. It was like, ‘This lady is dying, and this is part of life,’” said Drbal, now 63 and a music therapist for Catholic Community Hospice. “My grandma introduced me to her sister. And then she turned to me and said, ‘Nora is going to sing some songs for you.’” Her grandmother encouraged the nervous girl, suggesting she sing some of the
P hotos b y S U S A N M C S P A D D E N
Irish songs her mother had taught her. “I liked it. And they liked it,” Drbal said. “It was just a very nice experience. I always had that in my heart. It was always there.” Many years later, after working part time as a music teacher while raising her children, Drbal went back to school to become a music therapist. Today, it is her job to sing for terminally ill patients. Catholic Community Hospice, a program of Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, began offering the therapy about a year ago when it first contracted with Drbal, a board-certified music therapist, who got her training at the University of Kansas. On a recent morning, Drbal visited Mary Fields at Delmar Gardens nursing Turn to “let us” on page 4
ABOUT HOSPICE CARE
Hospice addresses the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of terminally ill patients and their families. It is covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance. Catholic Community Hospice serves people of all faiths. Core services are provided by physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, home health aides and volunteers. Other services are provided by physical, occupational, speech, massage and music therapists, as well dieticians.