When music alleviates suffering

Every week, she goes to the hospital to sing with people who are terminally ill or suffering from cancer. During each visit, she meets around ten patients in the palliative care and hemato-oncology departments. She spends around thirty minutes in each room.

One Wednesday morning, she goes to see Laurentia Provençal, hospitalized in palliative care. This is the second time she has met her and, obviously, she was expected.

I’ve been thinking about you all weekshe said, all smiles, to the musician.

Véronique settles down, chats a little and starts to sing Bring a little sunshine into our livesby Gilles Valiquette. Barely has the song started when Mme Provençal begins to hum the words with her. These few minutes of music suddenly plunge her into her younger years, memories that she tells us with a naughty air.

I was in bars all the time. The western bar in Lauzon… I opened the nightclub in Sainte-Marie. I did the fair, but I’m happy. I regret nothing from my pastshe said wistfully.

When she came last week, I was crying, it was terrible. Because here, I thought we wouldn’t have any [de la musique]. In the end, we have it. It seems to me that I am living again [l’époque] from the bar, again. If everyone had music, they would forget they were sick.

It is often said that art is an incubator of emotions. The Turkoise singer’s weekly visits visibly bring a smile not only to the patients but also to the staff. It’s tangible in the corridors.

Julia Weinmann has been working at the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec for seven months as a beneficiary attendant. She notices the difference in the behavior of the patients after the musician’s visits.

There is a lot of anxiety and fear. Often, music can relieve this stress. We see the patients’ faces transform. Afterwards, it’s more peaceful. Véronique, when she is there, she really has her place as a caregivershe declares.

This beneficiary attendant worked in a hospital in France and was surprised when she witnessed this type of initiative in Quebec.

There was none [de la musique] in the hospital where I was. Here, it’s really very interesting, everything they do for the comfort of the patient and families, beyond physical care.