Getting to the harp of the matter

A project in which harpists perform on hospital wards and offer lessons to staff is music to the ears of patients

HARPIST AND singer Madeleine Doherty has the air of a wandering minstrel as she makes her way through the corridors of the Mater Hospital in Dublin, responding to patients’ requests to play her harp and sing a favourite song.

The hospital is one of the first in Ireland to introduce the harp to patients as part of a live music programme.

“Music has such a central role in relaxation, the reduction of anxiety and the promotion of emotional and spiritual wellbeing. The patients love it,” says Ruth Bradley, the health promotion officer at the Mater Hospital.

“The harp music creates a calm and peaceful environment on a busy medical ward while the work still goes on. It’s good for the staff too. They like the atmosphere the music creates. They can listen to it while they work. It’s not at all intrusive.”

Lynn Fox, the ward manager on St John’s ward, says there has been very positive feedback on the initiative. “Sometimes patients have been told some bad news and it’s very important to cheer them up. It also offers them a break in the day and slows the pace down a bit on busy wards.”

Elizabeth Gibbons is a patient on St John’s ward. “Madeleine’s music is very soothing to listen to and she’s a beautiful singer too. I wish she was at my bedside at night to help me go to sleep,” she says.

Other patients have said that the music helps them to relax and to move more easily, as well as brightening up their days.

Bradley is keen to stress that the music is not a therapy in itself, but part of the overall ethos of the hospital in caring for the spiritual and emotional dimensions of patients’ health.

The programme is funded through the office of Sr Margherita Rock, the director of mission effectiveness at the Mater Hospital.

Doherty’s initiative was inspired by a hospital harp programme she came across on a visit to America, but she had already experienced the benefits her playing could confer on sick people.

“I played for my sister who died of cancer over 20 years ago. I played for a friend who was also dying of cancer in the Blackrock Clinic and I had played in Crumlin Children’s Hospital,” she says.

Doherty discovered harp music was very established in hospital settings in the US. She met Edie Elkan, who founded the Bedside Harp initiative in Pennsylvania 10 years ago.

It includes the playing of the harp in hospitals and the giving of harp lessons to staff and other people in the healthcare facilities.

Doherty explored Elkan’s programme in detail and the latter has since become the mentor for Doherty’s Irish initiative, Harps for Healing.

“We had a special small portable harp made by Irish harp-maker Colm O’Meachair, which can be used in hospitals,” explains Doherty.

“There is a great tradition of harpists bringing their music to people in Ireland. O’Carolan had his harp carried on a mule. This harp is lightweight. It has a strap around the back which allows me to walk around with it easily,” says Doherty.

It is now known as the Mater harp, and Doherty hopes it will be the first of many that can be made specifically for playing in hospitals and for teaching staff interested in learning to play the instrument.

The Mater Hospital is keen to develop this second strand of the programme. “It would give our patients, staff and the local community opportunities to learn to play the harp for their own wellbeing and self-healing,” says Bradley.

Since developing her Harps for Healing programme, Doherty has also played in other hospitals including the James Connolly Memorial in Blanchardstown and Naas General in Co Kildare. She believes the informal nature of the playing is key to the success of the programme so far.

“Because I play as I walk along the corridor, a member of staff or a family member can come and ask me to play at a patient’s bedside,” she says.

“The session is advertised in advance, so people know I’ll be around, but the hospital doesn’t have to make special arrangements for a performance and I don’t interrupt the busy work that is ongoing.”

Doherty is exploring funding options so that she can promote harp lessons for staff members at the hospitals where she plays.

She is also keen to have other harpists join the programme. “The programme is all about wellbeing, so we can teach people how to play by ear or by following numbers.

“They won’t have to read music if they don’t want to. Learning something new is good for your wellbeing. The classes are popular in the United States, so I’d like to see them developed here.”

See madeleinedoherty.ie