Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses
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ItemLooking for the Gold – A critical ethnographic study using drama therapy to explore voice, agency and power at the intersection of private and public life in aged care( 2022)This thesis details a critical ethnographic, drama therapy practice-based study examining the interconnectedness of aged care residents’ lived experiences within their socio-cultural environment. This was an emergent study that evolved over four cycles: (1) critical interpretative synthesis of the literature, which helped guide and shape the research design; (2) participant observations within the chosen research community (residential care home); (3) drama therapy (DT) workshops with a small group of residents; (4) semi-structured interviews upon finishing the DT workshops. The study examined the structures and dynamics of power within the research community and explored aged care from a broader socio-economic perspective in Australia. The findings illustrated a complex living environment with a lack of distinct boundaries between the private and the public spheres of residents’ lives. The findings show that negotiating these circumstances inevitably impacted the residents’ ability to enact their voice and agency within their living context. Against this backdrop, the study explored the role that drama therapy can have within the research community. The findings demonstrated that the active and collaborative processes in drama therapy enabled resident-participants to take ownership of their creative participation and witness themselves and others from a new perspective. The creative engagement in the DT group further enabled the participants to deconstruct their institutionalised, cultural, and social identities and explore a renewed sense of self. This transformative process empowered the participants to enact their voice and agency and meaningfully engage in the cultural shift within their home community, reporting a newly found sense of belonging within the DT group. This study makes recommendations for aged care settings to go beyond the mere accommodation of residents’ basic care needs and safety and equally address the disempowering nature of institutionalised living. The study demonstrates that drama therapy methods facilitated by a skilled therapist have the capacity to engage aged care participants in a compelling creative process in which they can exercise their voice and agency, direct their own narrative, and inform the wider socio-cultural system of their lived realities.
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ItemMethods used in cross-cultural music therapy in aged care in Australia( 2010)Aged care clients in Australia come from increasingly diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Music therapists are being called upon to work with this changing population, an area in which both training and research are still developing, according to current literature. Music therapists have written about cross-cultural practice; yet most of these studies concern individual clients, not the group approach that is most commonly used in aged care. This study therefore addresses the shortage of research in these areas: 1) cross-cultural music therapy methods, 2) aged CALD clients and 3) group situations. The Australian Music Therapy Association (AMTA) was contacted to circulate an online questionnaire to 88 practising registered music therapists (RMTs) identified as working in aged care. A thirty-three percent response rate (30 respondents) was achieved. Data was gathered on frequently used methods (listening to music, singing and movement to music), music repertoire, genre and styles, and utilisation of cultural specific music idioms. The results suggest that cross-cultural music therapy practice in aged care is influenced by various factors, including personal experience and professional training, as well as the client’s background, abilities, level of acculturation and musical preference. Most respondents were confident in providing music therapy to CALD clients, who enjoyed an equal amount of service as non-CALD clients. However, a number of respondents expressed reservations about the level of preparedness for cross-cultural work provided by university training, preferring to emphasise the importance of personal (rather than professional) experience and interests. This study thus concludes with recommendations for training music therapists in future.