The use of music as an arts-based method in migrant health research: a scoping review protocol

Fran Garry; Sylvia Murphy Tighe; Anne MacFarlane; Helen Phelan

doi:10.12688/hrbopenres.13121.1

The use of music as an arts-based method in migrant health research: a scoping review protocol

HRB Open Res. 2020 Oct 12:3:75. doi: 10.12688/hrbopenres.13121.1. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Fran Garry¹, Sylvia Murphy Tighe², Anne MacFarlane³, Helen Phelan⁴

Affiliations

¹ Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland.
² Department of Nursing & Midwifery and Health Research Institute (HRI), University of Limerick, Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland.
³ Public & Patient Involvement Research Unit, Graduate Entry Medical School and Health Research Institute (HRI), University of Limerick, Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland.
⁴ Irish World Academy of Music and Dance and Health Research Institute (HRI), University of Limerick, Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland.

Abstract

There is increasing recognition that people's lived experience needs to be incorporated into health decision-making. This has led to rising imperatives for involving the public in health processes, including research. While there have been significant advances in the field, patterns of exclusion still exist in some areas, including migrant participation in health research. Migration and mobility create challenges around social inclusion and this extends to social and cultural practices used in research. There is an emerging body of literature about improving meaningful, participatory spaces for migrants' involvement in health research using creative tools and techniques that are attuned to cultural diversity. These include the use of arts-based research methods. There is strong evidence for the use of music, particularly singing, as an effective arts-based participatory tool . The goal of this scoping review is to investigate the evidence for the use of music as an arts-based method in migrant health research. Developed by an interdisciplinary team specialising in public and patient involvement; nursing and midwifery; primary health care; and the performing arts, it aims to analyse existing evidence across disciplines that are not usually studied together, identify gaps in current knowledge and use these as a foundation to build effective strategies towards increasing access to and knowledge of participatory, arts-based methods using music in migrant health research. Methods: The protocol for this scoping review follows the guidelines and stages set out in the JBI Reviewer's Manual ( Peters et al., 2017), and by Levac et al, (2010), which build on the methodological framework of Arksey and O'Malley (2005). This incorporates six stages: 1) Identifying the research question; 2) Identifying relevant studies; 3) Study selection; 4) Charting the data; 5) Collating, summarising, and reporting results; and 6) Consultation.

Keywords: Music; arts-based research; health; migrant; well-being.

Grants and funding

Health Research Board [PPI-2017-009]. This work is supported by the Health Research Institute Research Cluster Capacity Building Awards (2019), University of Limerick.