Playlist Creation for Connection

Traveling to see friends or family members who live a long distance away can be challenging for clients with complex medical issues. When the ability to communicate verbally has been lost, it can be even harder to maintain that important sense of connection and belonging.

Music therapists often guide clients to create ISO playlists that may be used for relaxation, mood elevation, or movement. Playlist creation has been a surprisingly powerful tool to promote and maintain social connection with friends and family members for a medically fragile client who communicates through hand gestures.

Two ways of using playlists to promote social connection are described below:

Playlist Request

After obtaining permission from the client, a request was made to his primary caregiver to see if she could reach out to any friends from the client’s past that shared the client’s strong love of music. After a text was sent to two friends, they each responded quickly with a list of music from the client’s teen years and early adult years. Listening to these playlists clearly brought up positive memories for the client as he smiled while listening to every song that was shared by his friends. These songs were also incredibly helpful during sessions as they guided verbal prompts related to the music, allowing the client to be more fully known. These playlists also created an opportunity for social connection and even led to an in-person visit from one of the friends.

Playlist Sharing

Recently, the same client created a playlist of his dad’s favorite music to commemorate Father’s Day. While creating the playlist, the client used hand gestures to choose music from the 1950’s and 1960’s. The chosen songs led to opportunities to respond to questions about his dad, encouraging reminiscence. The client’s primary caregiver was able to share the playlist with his siblings who live out of state as a way to promote social connection across the miles.