Beyond the patient – Little Girl’s Lullaby
Maya Hoffer
I had the unique opportunity to visit a young girl at her home on my healthcare placement. When I arrived both her mum and an additional carer were there getting the girl ready for the day. This young patient has many medical problems including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, severe visual impairment, feeding and swallowing difficulties. As her mother is so heavily involved and oversees her daughter’s care, she talked me through most of the information about her daughter. It was heartwarming to witness and hear of the strong connection with the child’s carers also – she can’t see or speak but can hear everything and loves music and gossip.
After leaving this home visit, I felt very emotional and had to take a moment of silence to reflect on what I had just witnessed. I was proud of myself for keeping my composure when there in the patient’s home, but felt like it was necessary for me to allow myself to be upset afterwards. Even though I could see what a special and loving connection the mother and daughter had, I still felt sad knowing that their lives are so demanding, and it must be very difficult at times.
After reflecting on the visit, I decided I wanted to compose and arrange a piece of music using things I had learnt about this girl. I chose music as my art medium as she relies primarily on hearing. I arranged the composition for a flute trio with alto saxophone (with an added fourth flute in the second half). I then recorded myself playing each of the parts separately before putting them all together. I feel like it creates quite a dreamy and playful atmosphere.
As the patient is a young girl, I thought it important to portray her imaginative, gentle, nature which I tried to do through repeating the same melodic ideas in the different instruments but with variations in texture. I chose to score primarily for flute as this is my first instrument and when talking to the girl’s mum, she told me that she has music therapy at home and the therapist play the flute for her. As this young girl relies mainly on her hearing, I wanted to make the music sound as colourful and varied as possible and leave lots of room for her interpretation. The use of different related keys, many textures, varied dynamics and articulation has helped me try to achieve this. Alto saxophone was included as a way to extend the pitch range, allowing me to add even more colour to the piece.
My creative piece is trying to show how, despite her long list of medical conditions and vital medications, she is still a young girl with interests, dislikes, and a strong personality. Really, I’m looking at the person behind the patient. This is what inspired the name,
“Beyond the Patient – Little Girl’s Lullaby”. I hope that at some point, this lovely girl will be able to maybe hear this piece and know how grateful I am for being able to hear her story. It’s an experience I won’t forget and from it, I’ve learnt so much about aural communication, gentle interactions and the fundamental importance of patience and love.
Effective Consulting, Year One
Creative Assignment Prize-winner, 2019-2020
I found this composition and the story behind it very moving. Here, the artist is emphasising the importance of not just seeing patients as patients – but as people. The piece has a magical fairytale-sort-of-feel to it, reminding the listener that this little girl, just like every other young child, has her own imagination and playful personality, despite having various medical conditions. The artist has chosen to create a piece of music on the flute – making the piece very personal to the little girl, as she relies mainly on hearing and her therapist plays the flute for her. It’s really touching to see how the artist was impacted by her interaction with this patient, and inspiring to see how she was influenced to create a beautiful piece of music about her experience meeting the young girl.
Sometimes as medical students/ doctors it is hard to see the patient as a person and not the illness/ condition/disease they have. Looking at the patient as a person will allow not only allow for a better understanding but will strengthen the relationship. This piece of work beautifully shows how considering the patients condition, the writer was able to find ways to help the patient not medically but emotionally. This will sometimes mean more to the patient
I love how this piece focuses on the personality of the young person. In the music you can hear the different instruments on their own but they all come together really nicely as one rich sounding piece of music. I think this shows the different parts of the young girls personality, and how her condition and long list of medication is only a small segment of her identity. It is important as a medical professional to see the whole person and focus on patient narrative/perspective and this piece of music does just that.
This is a very moving piece musically and the description of the inspiration is astounding. It not only focuses on the disease aspect and individual illness but looks at the patient as a person with an individual personality. The coming together of the different parts of the flute really emphasize to me the different challenges that the girl has to face on a daily basis and takes it in her stride with the help of her mother. I thought this was a very valid piece which could easily be translated into something that medical professionals should think about everyday- not just looking at a patient as a person with a problem but rather an individual with their own special story.
The emotional depth of your interaction with the young girl is well matched by the complexity of the piece and I love how different melodies interweave to lend the piece a feeling of depth without losing the playful nature. The young childlike nature of the girl also comes across well, with the introduction of the alto saxophone a nice way to introduce further variation to the sound without overpowering the flutes. Your experience also highlights the benefits that music can have and how therapeutic it can be.