Health Education Literacy and Accessibility for Musicians: A Global Approach. Report from the Worldwide Universities Network Project.

Abstract

To address the need for accessible health education and improved health literacy for musicians throughout their lifespan. Formation of a multicultural, international, and interdisciplinary collaborative research team, funded by the Worldwide Universities Network. The goal is to design a multi-strand research program to develop flexible and accessible approaches to health education for musicians, thus improving their health literacy. Two team meetings took place in 2018. The first was held 11 to 15 April 2018 in Perth, Australia, and involved a review of existing literature and interventions on health education in music schools, intensive development of research topics, aims, and methodologies, and identification of potential funding sources to support future large-scale research programs. This resulted in the draft design of three research projects, finalized during a second meeting in Maastricht, the Netherlands, 27 to 31 August 2018. These intensive meetings identified the need for both cultural change in music education settings as well as improved health literacy in musicians across global geographical regions. A global project to address health literacy and health education accessibility for musicians has commenced.