Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses
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ItemStaying in tune: Exploring the perspectives of support workers in a long-term, community-based music therapy group( 2022)Music therapists are often assisted by support workers in their work with people with disabilities to enable access and participation during sessions. Support workers provide vital services to people with disabilities over a wide range of personal care tasks, including facilitating access to activities such as music therapy in the community. How music therapists interact and collaborate with this vital workforce, is key to the optimal provision of music therapy services. Music therapists have long been assisted by other workers in a variety of contexts and the literature has often reflected music therapists’ perspectives of working with assistants. However, scant attention has been given to the perspectives of the support worker in music therapy. Additionally, there is little literature addressing the community-based context. This master’s research project stems from my private practice group work for people with intellectual disabilities, which operates in a community venue. Support workers have assisted since its inception in 1998 and have always been engaged externally from the program, funded by the group member with disability. With the full rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in 2016 in Australia, access to and funding for support workers has increased and they have an important role in providing community access and participation. However, this burgeoning workforce has no set standards of training and experience, thus it is important to explore how best to collaborate with support workers who are variously trained and resourced. This research project aimed to explore the lived experiences of six support workers who provided assistance to group members with disability at a long-term music therapy group. Employing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methods, rich data from semi-structured interviews revealed key aspects of this experience: that Support workers value information and guidance; that there is a reciprocal impact of the music therapy session on the support worker and of the support worker on the music therapy session; support workers can experience a sense of belonging and an inclusive culture; and support workers have and develop a range of skills sets as a result of long term involvement in group music therapy in the community. The findings provided a rich picture of the support worker's role in a community-based music therapy context. As support workers felt a sense of belonging and inclusion in the group, this expands the notion of inclusion in this music therapy group developed exclusively for people with disability in the community. Collaboration with and support through information and guidance to the support worker, drawing on their knowledge, skills, and abilities may provide a sense of inclusion and community within the session. This may create an optimal experience of staying in tune for all the group members at music therapy.