Exploring the value of collaboration between music therapy and physiotherapy in South Africa in sessions with clients with Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Literature has indicated that music therapy has many physical benefits for individuals with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and that these benefits hold much potential for music therapy application within physiotherapy sessions. Collaboration between music therapy and physiotherapy in work with these individuals, however, has not yet been explored in a South African context and no studies include physiotherapists‟ perspectives on the matter. This research study has begun to bridge this gap by exploring music therapy and physiotherapy collaboration in a South African context and by looking for new insights concerning physiotherapists‟ perspectives. Data for this study was collected from a process in which I, as music therapy student, collaborated with a physiotherapist in sessions with clients with CP over a period of six sessions. Data included semi-structured interviews with physiotherapist participants; session notes written by the music therapy student as part of participant observation; and video-excerpts of meaningful moments from the collaborative sessions. The data indicated that collaboration has the potential to afford many physical, emotional/relational and psychological benefits for clients with CP, although there were some challenging features which also emerged throughout the process. The different therapists‟ perceptions also revealed some of the collaborative dynamics which can emerge during such a process, as well insights as into the requirements for effective collaboration. Copyright