Professional Competences of Music Therapists Working in Post-stroke Rehabilitation

Abstract

The aim of this qualitative study is to gain more insight into the skills and knowledge that music therapists feel they need, in order to work successfully with people who have had an acute stroke. For this purpose, six music therapists were interviewed about their own particular specialist education. Another interview topic for them was to recount their subjective experiences of poststroke rehabilitation work in hospitals and health care units during the course of two projects that they participated in. The first was a project that specifically used music listening during acute stroke rehabilitation; and the second was a project, which used more active music therapy techniques, like drumming during acute stroke rehabilitation. In the first project, patients who were bedridden in hospitals or health care units could listen to familiar songs that stimulated them in both a physical and cognitive way, and helped them to relax and regulate their moods better. In the second project different therapeutic approaches were observed and reflected upon during the piloting phase of the project and then an ideal combination of the activities was defined for the main phase. The resulting clinical music therapy model was thus created to specifically meet the special needs of stroke patients. Three crucial factors gleaned from the interviews that were seen to affect clinical thinking were: a) knowledge concerning the neurological basis of strokes; b) good patient interaction; and c) accurate observation of the physiological and psychological aspects of music therapy. In this way, these results provide a better understanding of the tacit knowledge possessed by music therapists who work within stroke rehabilitation.