“My Tune: Music Therapy from OUR Perspectives”

A Joint Reflection on the Research Process

Abstract

Participatory research is an increasingly popular research approach in music therapy. It allows diverse perspectives to be included in the research process thereby affording agency to all participants. Yet, it is challenging to involve various actors at all stages of a research project, including dissemination. In the My Tune project we used a co-creative approach, where young people, music therapists, and caregivers were involved as coresearchers. Within the project we developed a tool for reflecting on music therapy processes from the clients’ perspectives. At the end of the project, we strived to find a way of involving as many participants as possible in the composition of a common article. Two group discussions were held, where project participants conjointly reviewed the My Tune project. In the qualitative analysis of these discussions, key topics were identified, such as motivations, conditions for success, challenges, lessons learned, personal benefits, and characteristics of participatory research. These findings reflect the experiences of the participatory collaboration from diverse perspectives. They give an insight into the research process and refer to the resulting My Tune tool, offering important impulses for future participatory research.

Funding

We are grateful that the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft [Ludwig Boltzmann Society] supported this project by funding it as part of the Patient and Public Involvement and
Engagement in Research 2021 call.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our colleague Elsa Campbell for proof-reading the manuscript.