{"id":321163,"date":"2026-05-18T12:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/321163\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T12:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:56:09","slug":"a-music-practitioner-brings-peace-to-sacramento-hospice-patients-with-the-strum-of-a-guitar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/321163\/","title":{"rendered":"A music practitioner brings peace to Sacramento hospice patients with the strum of a guitar"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Abridged version:<\/p>\n

Certified music practitioners perform for hospice care patients in traditional medical settings, adding ease for those toward the end of life.<\/p>\n

Some research points to health benefits of music when involved with treatment for some conditions, but much remains unclear about the effect on patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has helped me to become more comfortable with end of life because I know that\u2019s where we\u2019re all headed,\u201d Ann Roach said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s helped me have very open conversations with my family, my children where death is just a part of the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ann Roach stepped into a darkened room in a residential care home with her guitar.<\/p>\n

The room\u2019s resident, more than 90 years old, was alert and communicative and greeted Roach from her hospice bed in a Roseville facility. As Roach began strumming and singing, the patient smiled and melted into rest.<\/p>\n

Spending time with hospice patients can be a sensitive experience. Roach, 52 and a longtime musician, sees it as a time of vulnerability and service.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the most incredible thing to know the service that you\u2019re giving has a value, and that it\u2019s actually really helping,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Healing with music<\/p>\n

As a certified music practitioner, Roach creates a space of comfort for people at the end of life. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe meet the patient where they are, and then we move them, through music, to where they can be more comfortable, where we can help with their breathing, with their pain level, with the dying process,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a science-based art form.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WomanAnn Roach, a certified music practitioner, plays the guitar and sings at a residential care home in Roseville on May 12, 2026. (Martin Christian)<\/p>\n

Carol Spears, CEO of the Music for Healing & Transition Program, pointed to scientific evidence behind the healing effects of music.<\/p>\n

The combination of music and training can \u201calleviate physical pain, emotional suffering and anxiety; promote much-needed relaxation and sleep; stabilize vital signs; elicit memories in cognitively impaired patients, and ease the dying process,\u201d she said in an email. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018how does it do that?\u2019 question is not yet fully answered, but the outcomes are measured and observed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The method is based in science, but the setting requires sensitivity. The effect comes down to the condition of the patient, Roach said, and the practitioner\u2019s ability to connect.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe magic happens one-on-one, where you are there in service to that individual and taking the cues from them, and they\u2019re not distracted,\u201d Roach said. <\/p>\n

A background in music<\/p>\n

Roach has been singing in spiritual communities for more than two decades. That involvement, which she refers to as her music ministry, led to her understanding of music as healing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started to realize that music has the ability to really, really touch and affect people,\u201d Roach said. \u201cI would have people tell me, \u2018I needed a release today, you helped give me that release.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The inspiration to begin formal study came from the 2014 documentary \u201cAlive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory,\u201d which showed the power of music when treating people with dementia and other cognitive ailments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would become themselves again,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I just was like, \u2018This is it. This is my next step.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Woman\"Ann Roach, a certified music practitioner, plays the guitar and sings at a residential care home in Roseville on May 12, 2026. (Martin Christian)<\/p>\n

Roach studied voice at a Colorado music academy for six years, starting in high school. To meet her new goal, she attended the Music for Healing & Transition Program with a practicum at UC Davis Medical Center. She was certified in 2018.<\/p>\n

What started with one day a week turned into a full-time gig at the Med Center, treating hospital patients of all kinds, not only those in hospice care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was kind of my pride and joy,\u201d Roach said. \u201cI felt like I helped pioneer that, and that was really special.\u201d<\/p>\n

The music program expanded as various departments saw the difference music could make in their patients\u2019 progress.<\/p>\n

Case in point: An ICU patient who was very agitated. Medical staff tried what they could. Then they called in Ann, whose music calmed the anxious patient.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd all of a sudden, his oxygen goes up, his heart rate starts coming down, and you can see it. The coolest thing on the ICU floor is you can actually see it happening,\u201d she said. \u201cSo you have the evidence right in front of your face.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the program lost its funding, Roach worked through Music Partners in Healthcare, a placement service for certified music practitioners in the Sacramento region. She secured a position with First Call Hospice and now visits patients in their own homes or in care facilities.<\/p>\n

A wide range of services<\/p>\n

Music practitioners are trained for a wide variety of health conditions and hospital departments. Roach has felt the impact of her practice on her personal life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has helped me to become more comfortable with end of life because I know that\u2019s where we\u2019re all headed,\u201d Roach said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s helped me have very open conversations with my family, my children, where death is just a part of the conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had the frustration of, you know, talking to aging parents who don\u2019t want to talk about it. And yet, it\u2019s what I get to do every day. Be with people that are going to transition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TissuesA hospice patient listens to music from her bed. (Martin Christian)<\/p>\n

Peace for families, too<\/p>\n

Paul Milkey and Christina Nicholson heard Roach play when their mother, Beverly Milkey, was in hospice. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnne\u2019s music provided a bright moment that we could all share together,\u201d Milkey said. \u201cIt made me feel like my mom\u2018s life was important because someone very talented was willing to spend time with her (and us).\u201d<\/p>\n

A musical background is just one of the qualities of a certified music practitioner. Roach said her work with hospice patients requires a different set of tools than public performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompassion is a really important element. Just to be a presence in that space,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s where it starts. Having an open heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jean Ann Walth is a harpist and team member at First Call. She noted a successful music practitioner should be gentle, calming and attentive, with a combination of training, experience and an empathetic heart. She has observed Roach\u2019s talent for the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer patients relax, often transcending their pain and finding comfort,\u201d Walth said.<\/p>\n

Roach added one more prerequisite for the job: finding out what works for each patient.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou start at a point, and you see how they respond,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re using music as a tool. But you\u2019ve got to find them first.\u201d <\/p>\n

Donna Apidone is a regular contributor, writing Coming of Age for Abridged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Abridged version: Certified music practitioners perform for hospice care patients in traditional medical settings, adding ease for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-321163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}