Musical care during the beginning of life in the UK:
Policy recommendations for increasing equitable access in England and Wales
The need for more equitable access to musical care during the beginning of life in England and Wales
Read the full policy brief here.
The first 1001 days of life are critical in children’s development. Too many families do not get the support they need to have the best start in life, with knock-on effects throughout their lives.
Musical care is the role of music in supporting all aspects of people’s developmental and/or health needs and is seen to be effective in supporting families. It includes a range of practices including music therapy, community music, music performance, concerts, and listening.
Relevant and culturally appropriate musical care activities should be accessible to all and cater equally to different aspects of the beginning of life (during pregnancy, infancy, for mothers, fathers, and carers). New evidence from our research shows that there are significant barriers to accessing and providing it.
Recommendations towards musical care pathways:
- Ensure long-term funding opportunities for musical care activities and research during the beginning of life, as part of a future strategy for musical care
- Create a collaborative environment for place-based approaches and community spaces
- Include and recognise musical care in quality standards and guidance to ensure a targeted approach that can recognise the importance of musical care
- Empower the musical care workforce with the skills they need for high quality and safe practice
Towards the implementation of musical care pathways
There is a broad range of practices within musical care during the beginning of life. A stepped-care approach could support more people to access them in ways that suit their needs. In a stepped-care approach, more specialised professionals such as music therapists would provide more intensive/specialist services while community musicians provide lower intensity care. Individuals can move up and down the steps in relation to their needs. This would require sufficient funding, collaboration, training, and support to ensure the variety of musical care activities required across all steps are equitably accessible and sustainable, with continued investment in research for an evidence-based approach.
About the project
There have been flag-ship institutions where well-established and innovative specific musical care practices at the beginning of life take place in the UK and abroad. Musical care practices at the beginning of life can include in parent/caregiver-baby groups, music therapy in neonatal intensive care units, and much more. There is now substantial evidence for some of this work. However, availability of musical care is not equally distributed around the UK or across the various areas of the beginning of life. Activities are not always clearly visible and there are barriers to participation including distance from home and cost for parents/caregivers and lack of sufficient support or resources to deliver suitable musical care activities for providers.
This multi-part project explored the experience of, and barriers to, musical care during the beginning of life in the UK. We heard from providers, people who have gone to musical activities, those who have experienced barriers to participation, researchers, and policy experts.
Part 1, funded by the UKRI’s Knowledge Exchange Fund and Policy Support Fund administered by the Royal College of Music, included two surveys, developed in consultation with parents and practitioners, to explore the experience of, and barriers to, musical care during the beginning of life in the UK.
Part 2, supported by the Leverhulme Trust, through the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants Scheme, included a series of consultations to gather key stakeholders in order to identify pathways to equitably upscale musical care for families throughout England and Wales.
Report citation: Spiro, N., Sanfilippo, K.R.M., Alway, P., Coombes, E. Odell-Miller, H. Perkins, R., & Tredget, E., (2024) “The need for more equitable access to musical care during the beginning of life in England and Wales: Policy recommendations” https://musicalcareresearch.com/research-projects/
Project Team
Neta Spiro (PI)
Katie Rose M. Sanfilippo
Elizabeth Coombes
Rosie Perkins
Emily Tredget
Helen Odell-Miller
Research associate
Caitlin Shaughnessy
Research assistants
Debi Graham
Mark Rowles
Berenice Beverley Zammit
Support
British Academy/Leverhulme Trust
Royal College of Music:
Knowledge Exchange Fund
Policy Support Fund