“A quiet still voice that just touches”: music’s relevance for adults living with life-threatening cancer diagnoses

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; however, many patients adapt music usage to ameliorate cancer's aversive effects. Patients often draw from their musical lives and explore unfamiliar music to: remain connected with pre-illness identities; strengthen capacity for enduring treatment, ongoing survival (even…