Music in the lobby: Listener and performer perspectives of a hospital Visiting Artists Series (VAS)

Abstract

This study reflects the development of a protocol for examining the essential elements related to implementing environmental music through a dedicated Visiting Artists Series (VAS) program in a large urban hospital lobby. Through random distributions of survey questionnaires and subsequent analyses, our findings present the seminal perspectives of both Visiting Artists and listeners’ (i.e., patients/personal caregivers and staff members), who both separately and together inhabit a vulnerable treatment environment. When fortified with environmental enhancements, hospitals may potentially prosper. We found that patients and personal caregivers, as well as staff members, are generally pleased with the hospital environment enhanced with music and expressed favorable perceptions of the environmental music series. Performers in the VAS described their impressions of the importance of environmental music in hospitals and are grateful for the opportunity to play under conditions where they were perceived to be appreciated. Suggestions for improvement of hospital lobby environments and the VAS are provided, as are future directions for clinical practice and research.