Perspectives on musical care throughout the life course : introducing the musical care international network
Spiro, Neta; Sanfilippo, Katie Rose M.; McConnell, Bonnie B.; Pike-Rowney, Georgia; Baraldi, Filippo Bonini; Brabec, Bernd; Van Buren, Kathleen; Camlin, Dave; Cardoso, Tanya Marques; Cifdaloz, Burcin Ucaner; Cross, Ian; Dumbauld, Ben; Ettenberger, Mark; Falkenberg, Kjetil; Fouche, Sunelle; Frid, Emma; Gosine, Jane; Graham-jackson, April l.; Grahn, Jessica A.; Harrison, Klisala; Ilari, Beatriz; Mollison, Sally; Morrison, Steven J.; Perez-Acosta, Gabriela; Perkins, Rosie; Pitt, Jessica; Rabinowitch, Tal-Chen; Robledo, Juan-Pablo; Roginsky, Efrat; Shaughnessy, Caitlin; Sunderland, Naomi; Talmage, Alison; Tsiris, Giorgos; De Wi, Krista
Date:
2023
Abstract:
In this paper we report on the inaugural meetings of the Musical Care International Network held online in 2022.
The term “musical care” is defined by Spiro and Sanfilippo (2022) as “the role of music—music listening as well as
music-making—in supporting any aspect of people’s developmental or health needs” (pp. 2–3). Musical care takes varied
forms in different cultural contexts and involves people from different disciplines and areas of expertise. Therefore,
the Musical Care International Network takes an interdisciplinary and international approach and aims to better
reflect the disciplinary, geographic, and cultural diversity relevant to musical care. Forty-two delegates participated
in 5 inaugural meetings over 2 days, representing 24 countries and numerous disciplines and areas of practice.
Based on the meetings, the aims of this paper are to (1) better understand the diverse practices, applications, contexts,
and impacts of musical care around the globe and (2) introduce the Musical Care International Network.
Transcriptions of the recordings, alongside notes taken by the hosts, were used to summarise the conversations.
The discussions developed ideas in three areas: (a) musical care as context-dependent and social, (b) musical
care’s position within the broader research and practice context, and (c) debates about the impact of and evidence
for musical care. We can conclude that musical care refers to context-dependent and social phenomena. The term
musical care was seen as useful in talking across boundaries while not minimizing individual disciplinary and professional
expertise. The use of the term was seen to help balance the importance and place of multiple disciplines,
with a role to play in the development of a collective identity. This collective identity was seen as important in advocacy
and in helping to shape policy. The paper closes with proposed future directions for the network and its emerging
mission statement.
