After two years of planning and negotiations, there is now a new Advance Music Planning playlist questionnaire that has been accepted by the Wisconsin Medical Society’s (WMS) Honoring Choices Wisconsin (HCW) program for use by Advance Care Planning facilitators in drawing up Advance Directives (AD). Its purpose is to allow individuals to state song preferences prior to an occurrence that may result in cognitive decline such as TBI, CVA or dementia. The item was first distributed as an option in November 2017 with plans to have it added later as a standard AD question.

The playlist question and its rationale were written by Dr. Dale Taylor, edited and approved by the WMS who named it “Advance Music Planning,” approved by the AMTA Music Therapy Informed Music Listening Work Group, AMTA President Geiger, HCW leadership, the Wisconsin Chapter for Music Therapy and Music & Memory CEO Dan Cohen.

You may access the playlist questionnaire and rationale by going to https://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/professional/hcw/resources-2/ and selecting “Advance music planning.” This is a fillable form using Adobe Acrobat Reader and can be printed after selections are entered.  Music therapists working in medical settings, especially hospice and long term care, are encouraged to access this resource and begin negotiating with medical societies and Honoring Choices programs to get it accepted for addition to Advance Care Planning protocols in your own states.

Dr. Taylor is continuing to work with the WMS to identify ways to monitor use of the new playlist item, help see that it is included in the national Respecting Choices Curriculum, assist in determining that the item is in full compliance with the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization’s new Guidelines on Advance Directives for Hospices, and facilitate access to individual playlist information by music therapists and music listening specialists.