Music therapy spanning from NICU to home: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of Israeli parents’ experiences in the LongSTEP Trial

Introduction: Music therapy (MT) is a part of standard care in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) in many countries, and in some countries is provided as a post-discharge service as well. However, it is rare that preterm families are offered continuous MT services from birth through their first months at home. Affiliated with a recent longitudinal, controlled trial of MT for parent-infant bonding and an associated qualitative study exploring lived experiences of MT post-discharge in an Israeli cohort of parent participants, this study aimed to understand parents’ experiences of engaging in longer-term MT with their preterm infants, spanning from birth into six months in a different Israeli cohort from the main trial. Method: We completed an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of parents’ experiences of music therapy with their preterm infants. Semi-structured interviews intertwining listening to audio recordings from MT sessions were conducted with seven participants from five families of the main trial. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed following principles of IPA. Results: The analysis resulted in the construction of two super-ordinate themes: (a) MT as a therapeutic haven, and (b) MT enabling integration of music into relationship over time. Discussion: Experiences of a small cohort of Israeli parents suggest that MT spanning from birth to home may play a role in supporting parental musical agency and enhancing parent-infant relationship building.