Jack Layton’s last letter to Canadians

With the recent passing of Canadian politician Jack Layton who left behind such an eloquent message, direction, and expression of feelings for Canadians, I am reminded of many of the clients I have worked with at end-of-life on the inpatient palliative care unit at Baycrest. I am a music therapist, who specializes in older adults and those suffering from a terminal illness. My doctoral research was focused on relationship completion through music in end-of-life care.

On a daily basis I see the importance of dying persons’ need to express sentiments and final thoughts to loved ones. This often involves the expression of key sentiments such as “I love you” and “thank you”. One might not think that these words are difficult to express but they can be, and music is one way that helps patients to express these emotions while also providing them with an avenue to leave behind a legacy gift such as a song or CD for their family and friends.

I use music in many ways at the end-of-life. For example, I had a 40-year-old client who wanted to create a scrapbook for her two small children but she did not have the energy in her last weeks to do this project. Together we wrote a song for her children. I recorded that song for them and we shared it at a family music therapy session together before she died. The song became very important to her family and they played it at her funeral and it is the theme song on her tribute website.

Another client I worked with wanted to express her sincere gratitude to her husband for the care and support he provided to her in her last months of life. She knew he understood she loved him, but it was important for her to express this gratitude and love in a unique way that he could treasure. Together over several weeks, we selected songs and wrote songs to express gratitude for their life journey together. We performed these songs for her husband at a “mini-concert” in her hospital room. Her husband was so moved that his wife had written songs for him. I recorded these songs and gave them to her husband after she passed away.

Music is powerful, and at the end-of-life it not only comforts but holds the ability to express, heal and transform. Music is a wonderful way for all of us to lift our mood and reduce our stress on a daily basis.

Amy Clements-Cortes, PhD, MusM, MTA