LAKEPORT >> Once a week, Lakeport resident and volunteer Linda Brown plays Celtic, classical and other soothing melodies on her harp for patients and their family members at Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
Every Wednesday from 8 to 10 a.m., Brown makes her rounds at the hospital. She starts in the surgery waiting room and then moves to the front lobby, the intensive care unit and the medical surgery department. Brown checks in with nurses to see if patients would like to hear her play, and then goes into their rooms for a personal mini-concert.
“When I play, I see patients relax as a sense of peace enters the room,” Brown said. “Studies show that listening to therapeutic harp music can ease stress and anxiety, decrease pain levels and even stabilize blood pressure. My volunteer work combines two things I love the most: playing music and interacting with people.”
Brown, who has played piano for many years, decided to add the harp to her musical repertoire about 10 years ago. She took lessons from Portia Diwa, who runs the Healing Harp program at the Institute for Health & Healing, through a class offered at the California Pacific Medical Center.
Brown started playing healing harp for Sutter Lakeside patients who were her friends and acquaintances, and recently formalized her volunteer status with the hospital Auxiliary.
“We’re so pleased to have her on our volunteer team,” said Auxiliary President Sharon Brasher. “Linda’s musical talent makes a real difference for many patients at Sutter Lakeside. I’ve had so many people comment about how relaxing it is when she plays; they really enjoy it.”
Brown says the most rewarding part of her volunteer work is seeing this difference after a musical session.
“I recently played for a man who was having a bad day both physically and emotionally,” she recalls. “I usually play for patients for 20 minutes, but I played 40 minutes for this patient. When I left he seemed like he was in much better shape, and that was very gratifying.
Sutter Lakeside is a not-for-profit community hospital that has a 65-plus year history of serving Lake County. Any profits that Sutter Lakeside generates are reinvested into healthcare. To learn more about Sutter Lakeside, visit www.sutterlakeside.org/.
