Bach to the Basics: Implementation and Impact of a Postoperative, Inpatient Personalized Music Program for Older Adults

Purpose: Music as an intervention to mitigate pain and anxiety has been well studied in the perioperative period. We present a quality improvement (QI) report describing implementation and evaluation of a postoperative, inpatient personalized music program for older adults undergoing elective surgeries. Design: We embedded this program in an existing interdisciplinary perioperative care program, with an outpatient and an inpatient component, at an academic institution. Methods: We describe our initial QI steps, highlight critical lessons learned from this behavioral intervention, and discuss high yield areas to focus on future implementation efforts. Findings: Rapid cycle improvement was an effective method to monitor QI measures. Participants in our program perceived improved mood and pain control, were satisfied with their experience, and had lower rates of incident delirium. Conclusions: This program offers perioperative teams, especially frontline nursing staff, an inexpensive, patient-centered tool to optimize postoperative pain and anxiety. We believe that it can be easily replicated at a variety of hospital systems.