Music Therapy – Taylor Kersey

At Hospice Savannah, Inc., our board certified music therapist Taylor Kersey, MT-BC, uses music-based techniques and interventions to address clinical issues of our patients.  Each session is individualized to meet the needs of the patient and family.  Music therapy can facilitate relaxation, reduction of symptoms (i.e. pain, anxiety, and shortness of breath), improve mood and allow for self-expression.

Music therapy is an established health care and human service profession using music to improve quality of life by optimizing health and wellness and addressing the needs of children and adults with disabilities or illnesses (AMTA, 2001). For more information on music therapy visit www.musictherapy.org.

Music volunteers assist Taylor when the intervention is not clinical in focus.

Massage Therapy – Jordyn Vital

Jordyn uses massage-based techniques and interventions to address clinical issues as identified on the patient’s Plan of Care such as expression of feeling, pain, coping strategies, insomnia, anxiety, and depression.  Therapeutic massage is offered to the patient and family to meet those needs.  Massage can be done both in the home and in our inpatient facility.  Our massage therapist is specially trained in palliative techniques to meet the comfort needs of Hospice Savannah patients.  Jordan is also certified in grief massage. This can be an allied therapy to bereavement counseling allowing for the greater processing of emotions.

Story Keeping & Memory Keeping

It is our belief that preserving a person’s life story is a gift of love and life. It is human nature for us to tell stories. By doing so, we explain our world and come to understand who we are.

It is difficult to pick which is sweetest: the story we live, the story we tell or the story we hear. Story keeping is counted among the “Healing Arts” because to review one’s life, to leave messages of love and to pass onto others, wisdom learned from life experiences, guides a person on the path homeward.  Story Keeper, and Memory Keeper volunteers work together to provide this important complementary therapy.