Music Listening and Empowerment in Health Promotion: A Study of the Role and Significance of Music in Everyday Life of the Long-term Ill

Abstract

This study considers music listening and its role as a lay or folk healing practice in the lives of men and women with long-term illnesses and diseases. Twenty–two participants aged 34 to 65 with long–term illnesses and diseases from Oslo and Akershus in Norway, were recruited as a strategic sample involving eight in–depth interviews stretching over a yearfrom 2004 to 2005. The research, participatory and action–oriented, focused on whether participants could, through exposure to and exchange ofnew musical materials and practices, learn to use music as a ‘technology’ of health promotion and self care. A novel ‘Participatory CD design’ was developed, involving participants' reflections on and contribution to the making offour CD compilations. Participants described their involvement with the project, and their subsequent raised musical amsciousness as beneficial, resulting in increased self–awareness and a new repertoire of musical skills relating to self care. Participants considered music listening and musicking to be important tools in the process of change and self–development, enhancing well–being and ‘wellness’ and offering resources for recovery and quality of life in the face of illness.