Do you believe that people can experience healing through music?

Last week, I came across a really cool post over at the Ukulele Underground forums on the healing power of music in action.

The poster “ukecantdothat,” who is a ukulele player, described his recent experience in the hospital for a few days and how in that experience he felt compelled to share his ukulele playing with other patients. Here’s how he described it:

The healing power of music in this environment is not to be denied. Many of the patients there have been laid up for months. Visitors tend to start dropping off after a few days of an extended stay, and the sight of a complete stranger walking in with a guitar or uke, keyboards in some cases, is a welcome sight over that of another health care provider armed with a bag of potassium chloride for the I.V. stand.

As someone who doesn’t visit the hospital on a regular basis, this was really challenging for me. He went on to say:

I implore anybody with the will to look into their local medical/hospice community to volunteer to lift the spirits of those who can’t lift a finger on their own. … It’s the purest form of aloha spirit and all you need is a couple of songs in your heart and an ukulele in your hands to make a difference.

What are some ways we can use our ukulele playing to help those around us? Any of you share your ukulele playing at your local hospital or nursing homes on a regular basis?