Developmental problems in extremely preterm (EP) infants and the associated longitudinal burden for their families are major health issues worldwide. Approaches to social-emotional support such as family-integrating Creative Music Therapy (CMT) are warranted. We aimed: (1) to explore parental perspectives on the use of CMT with EP infants in the neonatal hospitalization period and (2) to examine the possible longitudinal influence of CMT. A qualitative design was used to examine the perspective of six families from various backgrounds. Semi-structured interviews were carried out when the infants reached school age. We used an inductive-deductive thematic analysis to identify three main themes, each with three sub-themes: (1) the positive impact of CMT on the infants, the parents, and bonding; (2) the attitude toward CMT, from being open-minded to recommending it as complementary therapy; and (3) the experience of overall healthy infant development despite unique developmental delay issues. The findings elucidate the positive and formative impact of CMT on both infants and parents in the stressful NICU setting and beyond. CMT may empower positive transformation in the parents through individualized early nurturing musical interactions, capacity building, and positive reinforcement. Further research may help to identify and implement potentially modifiable factors for improving health care in this vulnerable group through early family-integrating, resource-based approaches such as CMT.
Keywords: creative music therapy; daily life; extremely preterm infant; long-term development; parental perspective; parents; qualitative interview; relaxation.