Tertiary music students' experiences of an occupational health course incorporating the body mapping approach

[摘要] The high prevalence of performance-related health problems (PRHPs) amongmusicians of diverse genres and cultures is well-documented, with lifetime prevalencerates showing that roughly 75% of musicians are affected, including tertiary and pretertiarystudent musicians, professionals and amateurs. Despite the well-establishedand multiple benefits of music for society, there are occupational risks, bothneuromusculoskeletal and psychological.The literature underscores the need for a biopsychosocial perspective in the provisionof musicians' health education. Research on somatic educational practicesdemonstrates their suitability for addressing the postural, movement, musculoskeletalanatomy and proprioceptive training components. One of these practices, BodyMapping (BMg), focuses particularly on musicians' needs and may be successfullyincorporated into a musician's health course. However, BMg is a relative newcomeramong the established somatic approaches and little research has been done on theincorporation of BMg principles into music education.Due to the limited amount of research on the implementation and assessment of healtheducation in tertiary musicians' training, the purpose of this study is to focus onexploring the experiences of tertiary music students participating in an occupationalhealth course, incorporating BMg as the somatic component. InterpretativePhenomenological Analysis was chosen for the thematic analysis of the interviewsconducted. The aims of the study were to gain an understanding of the participants'experiences and perceptions of the course, any changes that occurred, and of BMgas the somatic education component. The data analysis revealed four super-ordinatethemes: panorama, physical awareness, psychological awareness and musicianship,supported by a total of 20 subordinate themes.Most importantly, the findings emphasise the reciprocal interactions of physiological,psychological, behavioural and musical aspects of music-making, and suggest thatBMg may be highly effective in terms of the integrated teaching of musicians'biopsychosocial and artistic requirements. The study underscores the need formusicians' health education to be embedded in tertiary musicians' training, thebeneficial impacts of comprehensive musicians' occupational health education, andthe value of BMg as a somatic education component. The results provide informationon essential course content, the advantages of interdisciplinary collaboration, the needfor practical activities, the optimal duration, the value of peer learning and support, theimportance of cooperation with music teachers, and the consideration of students'motivation to attend and their readiness for change. The study also aims to raiseawareness of the musicians' health field in South Africa, and the critical need for furtherresearch, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the implementation of musicians'occupational health education at tertiary institutions.

[发布机构] University of the Free State