A scoping review of the use of music as an arts-based method in migrant health research

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

doi:10.12688/hrbopenres.13817.1

A scoping review of the use of music as an arts-based method in migrant health research

HRB Open Res. 2023 Dec 6:6:74. doi: 10.12688/hrbopenres.13817.1. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Fran Garry^{1

2}, Anne MacFarlane³, Sylvia Murphy Tighe^{4

5}, Pattie Punch⁶, Helen Phelan¹

Affiliations

¹ Irish World Academy of Music and Dance and Health Research Institute (HRI), University of Limerick, Limerick, County Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland.
² Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Participatory Health Research Unit, University of Limerick, Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland.
³ Participatory Health Research Unit, School of Medicine and Health Research Institute (HRI), University of Limerick, Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland.
⁴ Department of Nursing & Midwifery and Health Research Institute (HRI), University of Limerick, Limerick, County Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland.
⁵ Department of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Limerick, Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland.
⁶ Glucksman Library, Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, County Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland.

Abstract

Background: There is a growing awareness of the need to include people's lived experiences in health decision-making. While much progress has been made in this field, exclusionary patterns persist regarding migrant participation in health research. The aim of this scoping review was to examine the available literature around the use of music as an arts-based research (ABR) method in migrant health research in order to extend knowledge of creative methods and tools used for migrant participation in health research.

Methods: Our review follows a scoping review methodology. Searches were conducted in 11 electronic databases between June and August, 2020. We identified 14 eligible references published between January 2009 and August 2020. We analysed how music is utilised as an arts-based research method in community-based health and wellbeing contexts primarily with refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, and members of resettled immigrant communities.

Results: The findings show that music's role is most prominent as a tool for recruitment and engagement followed by its use as a tool for dissemination. Music is effective as a means to co-produce and communicate knowledge of lived experiences of migration and related wellbeing issues.

Recommendations and conclusions: Our recommendations for further research include the need for increased detail on the musical element in ABR projects; Explicit identification of such research as ABR; Greater recognition of a multi-arts understanding of music in the context of ABR; Harnessing the potential of music in ABR across the research cycle. We conclude that arts-based research using music shows promise for capturing the complexity of migrants' lives and health issues in an ethical way. It warrants further investigation in empirical studies in multiple clinical and community settings to understand its processes and impacts on the evidence base for migrant health.

Keywords: Music; arts-based research; migrant health; scoping review.

Publication types

Systematic Review

Grants and funding

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