Musical care during the beginning of life in the UK:

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 mum and baby groups, music therapy in neonatal intensive care units and much more. At the same time, there is now substantial evidence base 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.

This multi-part project explores the experience of, and barriers to, musical care during the beginning of life in the UK. We are interested in hearing from providers, people who have gone to musical activities and those who have experienced barriers to participation.

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, includes a series of workshops to gather key stakeholders in order to identify pathways to equitably upscale musical care for families throughout England and Wales.