Being Well, Being Musical: Music Composition as a Resource and Occupation for Older People

Abstract

Introduction: Participatory music making for older people has tended to focus on singing and performance. In a community music project undertaken by Manchester Camerata (a chamber orchestra), Blacon Community Trust and a small group of older adults, participants were given the opportunity to compose individual pieces of music interactively with professional musicians. This paper reports the findings of the research project. Method: An arts-based research method was adopted and incorporated action research and interpretive interactionism to articulate the experiences and perceptions of participants. Participants and Manchester Camerata musicians also worked together to represent the thematic findings of the research in a group composition. Findings: The findings demonstrate that individual and group music composition contributed to a sense of wellbeing through control over musical materials, opportunities for creativity and identity making, validation of life experience and social engagement with other participants and professional musicians. Conclusion: The results emphasised occupation as essential to health and wellbeing in the later stages of life. The findings also highlight the particularly innovative aspects of this research: (i) the use of music composition as a viable arts-in-health occupation for older people and (ii) the arts-based research method of group composition.

How Do Music Activities Affect Health and Well-Being? A Scoping Review of Studies Examining Psychosocial Mechanisms

“…Music composition was found to be an important tool for supporting healthy aging and well-being of older adults learning to compose music collaboratively with a string quartet and a professional composer. For these participants, composition also created more opportunities for creativity and feelings of control and self-efficacy (Habron et al, 2013 ) (see Supplementary Table 1 ). In the study by Bartleet et al ( 2016 ), jamming and music making between Aboriginal and non-Indigenous musicians provided opportunities to develop deep, transformative, intercultural engagement and connection.…”

If you’re happy and you know it: Music engagement and subjective wellbeing

“…Though some studies focus on wellbeing outcomes for active engagement with music (e.g., Hallam, Creech, Varvarigou, & McQueen, 2012), positive relationships can be found in the literature for all types of music engagement. For example, positive relationships have been found between music and wellbeing for people who listen to music (Morinville et al, 2013), sing (Clift et al, 2007), play an instrument (Perkins & Williamon, 2014), dance (Koch, Kunz, Lykou, & Cruz, 2014), create or compose music (Habron, Butterly, Gordon, & Roebuck, 2013), and attend music festivals (Packer & Ballantyne, 2011), though these effects have generally been considered independently. In one study, Saarikallio and Erkkilä (2007) considered how adolescents engage with music in different forms in accordance with their intentions regarding mood regulation.…”

Toward the reconceptualization of the relationship between occupation and health and well-being

“…A link between the health care trends and occupational therapy was often made, with some articles seeking to demonstrate occupational therapy’s effectiveness as a form of treatment for various health conditions. Certain articles described research that was conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of a particular occupation-based program, seemingly in hopes of obtaining government funding to support the program’s continuation, as in an article by Habron, Butterly, Gordon, and Roebuck (2013): “Coventry University is just one education provider whose research goals include a focus on well-being and social inclusion for older people” (p. 308).…”