Music therapy is a non-pharmacological intervention, promoted as holistic, and k

Music therapy is a non-pharmacological intervention, promoted as holistic, and known for reducing stress and anxiety (Pan & Pan, 2021). Music therapy is a form of treatment that is used in a variety of ways in preventative care. While there are pharmacological treatments, pharmacological treatments often come with harmful side effects (Pan & Pan, 2021). One study discussed the positive effects music therapy has on sleep quality. This systemic literature review analyzed 56 studies between January 2007 and December 2019. Of the 56 studies, 52 of them 92%) showed a positive influence of music therapy on sleep quality while the other 4 studies showed no impact (Pan & Pan, 2021). This study is beneficial because many people suffer from poor sleep quality and often results to pharmacological interventions that carry many side effects and can be addicting. The limitations to the study are that it does not specify what type of music therapy is best. Further researching different types of music on sleep quality would be more helpful to provide patients with this information rather than just putting any music.
Another way music therapy is helpful in preventative care is in controlling and lowering blood pressure (Wichian, Klaphajone, & Phrompayak, 2021). A quasi experimental study was done to test the effects of music embedded with binaural and superimposed beats on the control of hypertension. The control group received this music at least three times a week for 4 weeks while the other group did not. Blood pressures were measures before the intervention, 30 minutes after intervention, at the third week, and one week after completion of the intervention (Wichian, Klaphajone, & Phrompayak, 2021). The results showed that there were no changes in first two blood pressures, but there was a significant decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure at the third and fourth check. The limitations to this research are that music therapy was only used in addition to the medications that patients were already on. The results have other variable such as type of blood pressure medications (Wichian, Klaphajone, & Phrompayak, 2021).
In addition, another study was done using music therapy and its effect on overall well-being (Jerling & Heyns, 2020). This was a systematic review of articles that went through a five-step elimination process. 14 studies consisting of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods were used. These studies had patients will various disease processes such as cancer, strokes, rheumatoid arthritis, health adults, people with work stress, addiction, and depression being (Jerling & Heyns, 2020). In conclusion, this study showed the positive outcomes in mental health settings and in healthy populations when music therapy was used (Jerling & Heyns, 2020). A limitation to this study is that not all studies used the same tool to measure positive impact. Most studies used the same, but one was different. Conducting a study with the same tool would make the results clearer without many variables.