The Effects of Music Therapy on Executive Functioning and Emotions in Stroke Patients: An Integrative Review of the Literature

Background: Presently the use of complementary alternative medicine such as music therapy is currently not included as part of the curative process for CVA patients. Review of the literature supports the use of music as a complementary source for quicker adaptation to rehabilitation.

Objectives: The purpose of this literature review is to explore the positive impact and potential that music therapy might provide to patients who are recovering from a CVA event.

Methods: This integrative literature review utilized the Whittmore and Knalf (2005) framework to synthesize and organize the research that was conducted. CINAHL, PsychInfo, and PubMed databases were utilized, which resulted in a total of eleven empirical articles used for this review.

Results: Three major themes have been discovered throughout the review of the existing literature (1) improvement of executive functioning, (2) improvement of mood, and (3) social interactions increased. These findings provide positive implications for future nursing applications and clinical practice when caring for CVA patients.

Conclusions: Given the positive effects music therapy has on patients recovering from CVA, this is a nursing intervention that could be implemented into practice in addition to traditional recovery treatment.

Key words: Stroke patients, CVA, music therapy, executive functioning, emotionality, mood, social functioning