The Story of Bedside Harp
For over 40 years Edie Elkan was a music teacher and involved in using the harp as a therapeutic instrument since 1994. Understanding the extraordinary healing qualities of the instrument first-hand, she has, since 1999, dedicated herself to bringing harp therapy to healthcare and wellness settings. Her vision was to partner with major medical facilities within which she would set up programs to:
Play for patients, their loved ones and staff;
Teach folk harp right at the medical facility, to staff and community for their own healing and enjoyment;
Train, prepare and certify harpists to work in a variety of medical settings including hospitals, cancer centers, surgical centers, nursing homes, rehabs, hospices, birthing centers, psychiatric, addiction and eating disorder treatment facilities as well as doctors’, dentists’, and chiropractic offices and wellness centers;
Collaborate with the medical facility on research projects to provide evidenced-based data on the effectiveness of harp therapy. At the time however, no one in healthcare knew what harp therapy was, nor was anyone open to the concept of partnering with a music teacher who would, in effect, run a music school out of their facility. Undaunted, Edie pressed forward, offering patients and staff at hospitals, hospices, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes and in doctor and dentist offices a taste of harp therapy, on a volunteer basis. Wherever she played, patients, families and staff alike were wowed — but still, no healthcare facility could quite envision hosting the kind of program Edie hoped to create. And then came that terrible day in September 2001. It was in the midst of these horrors that Edie was contracted to play her concert grand harp for an event featuring Bernie Siegel, M.D. As she had gotten in the habit of doing, she not only brought her concert harp with her that evening, but her small harp and some brochures describing harp therapy, as well. It took only a moment for Sheila Birnbaum, then Patient Relations Manager at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, to embrace Edie’s concept. Harp therapy was in fact, the very element Sheila felt her hospital needed, for RWJ Hamilton was actively treating the anthrax-infected postal workers. Very quickly Sheila sought and received the enthusiastic support from then President and CEO, Christy Stephenson. And with that, Bedside Harp® was born.
