Idea for research
Securing NHS funding, BDCA in collaboration with Community Albums (CA) are leading music therapy courses for disadvantaged children in Newham. The young people participating in this programme are involved in each stage of music production from songwriting, developing music production skills, and producing high-quality music videos, in addition to gaining an accredited qualification.
The intensive music therapy programme, ‘Upbeat’ is designed for vulnerable young people to inspire, empower and bring positive change. These workshops have been shown to reduce crime, improve self-esteem, and improve employability. The idea for the research will be to assess the impact of preventive intensive music therapy on the mental health and wellbeing on the vulnerable youth.
Impact of idea
This research will gather evidence that music therapy can promote positive wellbeing, decrease anti-social behaviour and reduce crime rate in vulnerable youth populations. Current research on music therapy centres on physical and mental health improvements, but there is less established evidence supporting impact on the impact of youth crime. This research has the potential to be a tool that supports fundraising for implementing music therapy programmes, that can transform vulnerable youth lives, contribute to healthier communities, and inform the impact on mental health and wellbeing and crime reduction.
