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Partnerships for Health Musicking: A Case for Connecting Music Therapy and Public Health Practices

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Music and Public Health

Abstract

In this chapter, we explore relationships between music therapy and public health practice, and I argue that it is about time that we examine these relationships more actively. The notion of public health that I employ is based in the human rights and includes but goes beyond population-oriented prevention of disease to include healthy public policy across sectors in society. With reference to recent practice developments in Norway, I argue that the development of music therapy services in clinics might be connected to an increased focus on music as a public health resource as well. I try to contribute theoretically to an understanding of such relationships through elaboration of the notions of health musicking and partnership. These notions are used to contextualize the request for user involvement and collaboration that supports the relevance of music as a health resource in contemporary societies. The argument is based in a broad conceptualization of music therapy research and scholarship, to include various health-related practices of music, within clinics and communities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In this chapter, I provide practice examples from the Norwegian context where I work, so it is also worth noting that these statements find support in the Norwegian law for public health work (Lov om folkehelsearbeid 2011).

  2. 2.

    Community music therapy is a socio-musical movement within music therapy, with qualities that could be described by the acronym PREPARE; practices are participatory, resource-oriented, ecological, performative, activist, reflective and ethics-driven (Stige and Aarø 2012, pp. 3–28).

  3. 3.

    The public health department of the Norwegian Health Directorate has created a website which describes users’ rights to medication-free treatment within mental health services. The website includes several links to websites with information about music therapy; see https://helsedirektoratet.no/folkehelse/psykisk-helse-og-rus/psykisk-helsevern/legemiddelfri-behandling-i-psykisk-helsevern.

  4. 4.

    In Norwegian, there is a description of the project MOT82 in the following website: http://gamut.no/2017/03/07/onsker-a-hjelpe-flere-mennesker-med-psykiske-lidelser-til-a-delta-i-lokale-aktiviteter/.

  5. 5.

    “Polyfon” means polyphonic in Norwegian.

  6. 6.

    Norwegian terms for civil society, the public sector and the private sector are “frivillig sektor”, “offentleg sektor” and “næringsliv”, respectively.

  7. 7.

    There is a website (in Norwegian) established for the knowledge cluster, with information, annual reports and so on; see http://gamut.no/polyfon/.

  8. 8.

    The project is co-funded by the Western Norway Regional Health Authority, Bergen Health Trust, the city of Bergen and the foundation ExtraStiftelsen.

  9. 9.

    These quotes are presented here in my translation of the Norwegian originals.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Brynjulf Stige

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  1. Brynjulf Stige
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Correspondence to Brynjulf Stige .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of communication and psychology, Center for Research in Music and Health, The Norwegian Academy of Music, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Lars Ole Bonde

  2. Karolinska Institute, Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Töres Theorell

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Stige, B. (2018). Partnerships for Health Musicking: A Case for Connecting Music Therapy and Public Health Practices. In: Bonde, L., Theorell, T. (eds) Music and Public Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76240-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76240-1_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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