The Development of a Music Therapy Assessment Tool for Hospitalized Children

ABSTRACT: This article describes the development of a music therapy assessment form for use with hospitalized children. Assessment is an important aspect of the music therapy process because it helps the therapist to identify patient needs, communicates to other parties the rationale for music therapy treatment, and guides the choice of objectives and the on-going evaluation of treatment benefits. The steps taken to develop the assessment tool are described, including determining the needs of the target population, examining existing assessment tools used by music therapy professionals, determining format and content, piloting the form with patients and revising initial drafts based on feedback, and determining the validity and reliability of the form. Introduction According to the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) Standards of Clinical Practice (2003), music therapists should include assessment as a general procedure for each client prior to commencing services. The assessment should include the non-musical categories of psychological, cognitive, and physiological functioning as well as communication and social skills. Music skills, client response to music, and musical preferences should also be assessed to determine the most appropriate musical selections and interventions. Furthermore, the assessments must be appropriate for the clients' developmental age and functioning level. The assessment may include observation, interviews, verbal or non-verbal interactions, or testing and may integrate information from other sources, such as medical charts or communication from other therapists. Assessments should comply with the professional standards of AMTA, reflect current research and clinical resources in the field, and should yield reliable and valid information (Cole, 2002; Scalenghe & Murphy, 2000). Experience can provide therapists with the knowledge that an assessment process not only helps to identify individual treatment needs for each patient (Bruscia, 1988) but also provides a mechanism through which team members can communicate specific services, treatment goals and objectives, and expected outcomes (Scalenghe & Murphy, 2000). Three main types of assessment are currently used by music therapists: initial assessment, comprehensive assessment, and ongoing assessment. An initial assessment is done at the beginning of the therapeutic process in order to identify the client's strengths and weaknesses and to help formulate treatment goals. Comprehensive assessments are done when a client is referred for music therapy services only. Comprehensive assessments are usually longer because they examine multiple aspects of functioning. Finally, ongoing assessment occurs throughout the treatment process. The music therapist may administer a pre-test before therapy begins, a mid-test during the course of treatment, and finally a post-test to determine any changes in functioning that occurred during the music therapy treatment process (Hanser, 1999). The assessment tool can take a variety of forms including tests, surveys, or similar devices that measure the abilities of a person in each area (Bruscia, 1988; Hanser, 1999; Lane, 1996; Standley, 1986). Sometimes, clinicians will also modify standardized tests for specific use in clinical settings (Hanser, 1999). Currently, few standard assessment tools exist within the field of music therapy, and those that have been developed are not suitable for all clients, given the diverse populations served within the discipline. Therefore, music therapists use many different strategies for assessment, such as informal assessment as part of charting (Cole, 2002), adaptation of standardized assessments from other disciplines (e.g., visual analog scales or surveys), or self-designated assessment forms (Brunk & Coleman, 2000; Cole, 2002; Scalenghe & Murphy, 2000). Others follow a systematic music therapy assessment process, such as the Special Education Music Therapy Assessment Process (SEMTAP) (Brunk & Coleman, 2000), which is used with children enrolled in special education as part of the IEP process. …