The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced through its partnership with the US Department of Defense (DoD), music therapy will be integrated into the treatment for wounded warriors returning home with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and psychological health conditions. The new music therapy program is reportedly a component of NEA’s Operation Homecoming and stems from the growing use of creative arts therapy programs in health care settings, the release notes.
The Operation Homecoming program, a partnership between the NEA and DoD, will integrate music therapy into treatment plans for patients at Walter Reed Bethesda and patients at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE). According to the release, the neurologic music therapy component at the NICoE joins the Operation Homecoming creative writing program for wounded warriors, launched in 2011.
Rocco Landesman, NEA Chairman, emphasizes the organization’s excitement in partnering with the US DoD, adding, “The NEA is honored that this partnership will help design and test neurologic music therapy programs for our service men and women being treated at Walter Reed.”
The neurologic music therapy is engineered to use science-based music techniques to improve cognitive, sensory, and motor function in patients with neurological disease such as TBI, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. Mia Maegan Morrow is slated to serve as a consultant for the music therapy program at the NICoE and Walter Reed Bethesda.
For more information about the NEA, click here.
Source: NEA
