Choirs in Two Countries — A Study of Community Music Therapy for the Older Adults in Norway and Japan

Autores/as

  • Hiroko Kimura Department of Integrated Human Studies, Faculty of Letters, Kumamoto University, Japan
  • Yumi Nishimoto Kumamoto University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v17i1.860

Palabras clave:

community music therapy, older adults, choir activity, culture, music sentence completion task, collectivism, individualism

Resumen

Modern music therapy first developed in western countries and has now spread throughout the world. This research focuses on how Japanese culture affects the implemention of Community Music Therapy (CoMT), by comparing the results of questionnaires carried out with groups of older adults in Norway and Japan. The results showed a small difference in terms of opinions expressed but significant cultural differences in the process of answering the questions set to them, which may be derived from individualistic and collectivistic cultural elements. The results are considered under five headings in the discussion section: Basic cultural difference, Self-expression, Internal relationships, Sense of community, and Role of music. We conclude that although CoMT has an important role in the social involvement of older adults regardless of cultures, cultural differences should be taken carefully into consideration.

Biografía del autor/a

Hiroko Kimura, Department of Integrated Human Studies, Faculty of Letters, Kumamoto University, Japan

Hiroko Kimura, a musicologist (MA) and a RMT (Japan), is an associate professor of Kumamoto University. She has worked as a music therapist with older adults and children with special needs.

Yumi Nishimoto, Kumamoto University

Yumi Nishimoto, a music therapist, received the M.A. degree from Kumamoto University, Japan. For the past fifteen years she has been working with older adults with dementia and also with people in palliative care in hospital as a music therapist. She has also been involved in community music therapy for ten years. She was a part-time lecturer in Kumamoto University, Japan.

Publicado

2016-11-28

Cómo citar

Kimura, H., & Nishimoto, Y. (2016). Choirs in Two Countries — A Study of Community Music Therapy for the Older Adults in Norway and Japan. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v17i1.860

Número

Sección

Research