Music therapists are becoming accepted members of health teams in hospitals, schools and nursing homes rather than an added extra, according to a University of Queensland researcher.
Music Therapy Course Co-ordinator at UQ's School of Music Jane Edwards surveyed music therapists, doctors and allied health professionals including occupational therapists and physiotherapists and found general agreement on the future research directions for music therapy with hospitalised children.
While not a new field of research - music therapy had been taught at universities since 1978 - it was still a small field greatly in need of more funding and research support, Ms Edwards said.
"It can play a very important part in rehabilitation and treatment. Reports suggest many of the first utterances from children emerging from comas and a high number of the first intentional verbalisations from children with autism are made during music therapy sessions," Ms Edwards said.
Music therapy can involve playing music or singing to children and adults, teaching songs or musical pieces or improvising with music.
Ms Edwards has just returned from nine months teaching and developing the second year of the inaugural music therapy masters program at the Irish World Music Centre at the University of Limerick. She will return for her second year at the Centre in January 2001.
While in Ireland, she also helped create three, full-time music therapist positions in the country - two in hospitals and one working with people with Down syndrome.
She presented the keynote address at the National Music Therapy Conference in New Zealand in September 1999 and also gave a research paper at the World Congress of Music Therapy in Washington DC in November last year.
"This event was attended by 1800 delegates and I was one of only two Australian members of the Scientific Committee for this triennial event. At the same event, I was appointed to the World Federation of Music Therapy as the Commissioner for Government Accreditation," she said. "I think it shows how Australians are beginning to make their mark in the international arena of this field."
For her 1999 UQ Foundation grant, she studied the music therapy techniques used to help rehabilitate three children with a range of difficulties following car accidents. This study was in conjunction with the RCHF/Ray White Senior music therapist at the Royal Children's Hospital Jeanette Kennelly.
A $7700 grant from UQ's Office of Gender Equity enabled her to take time off from her teaching commitments to conduct the research.
Ms Edwards, who recently submitted her PhD supervised by the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health's Dr Jim Nixon, established the Music Therapy Program at the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) to help provide clinical placements for UQ's course.
"This started in just one unit of the Hospital but now is offered to most wards and even as an outpatient service. The Clinical Music Therapy Tutor position established there in 1998 was the first non-medical joint appointment between the RCH and The University of Queensland," she said.
For more information, contact Jane Edwards (telephone 07 3365 3740).