"A quiet still voice that just touches": Music's relevance for adults living with life-threatening cancer diagnoses

Abstract

Purpose: Music has historically aided health and loss-adaptation, however, cancer patients' experience of music for self-care is not well understood. This study examines adult cancer patients' views about music's role before and after diagnosis. Methods: Constructivist approach, with grounded theory informed design using convenience, snowball and theoretical sampling. Patients from Australian metropolitan cancer and hospice settings completed demographic questionnaires and participated in semi-structured interviews. Qualitative inter-rater reliability was applied. Results: Fifty-two patients reported comparable time spent experiencing music pre-post diagnosis. Music may remain incidental; ho..