Pediatric Patients Get Musical Instruments

A Los Angeles doctor started a foundation to give musical instruments to ill children being treated in a hospital.

Dr. Raffi Tachdjian, a third-year pediatric fellow in the division of allergy and immunology at Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA, founded the non-profit Children’s Music Fund to help bring music to his patients.

Most sick children spend their evenings in the hospital playing video games or watching TV and videos, said Tachdjian. Instead, music can help with their sadness, pain and overall coping mechanism.

Tachdjian, who is researching the effects of music in a study, says brain-imaging studies have shown links between music and regions of the brain responsible for emotion, mathematics, memory and coordination.

By interacting in a musical environment, hospitalized children can develop their overall mental processes while simultaneously improving their emotional well-being, according to Tachdjian.

Children can choose from guitars, keyboards and percussion instruments, and if the patient does not know how to play, Tachdjian said that they will be linked with an organization that provides instruction.