The Music in Rehab Project takes a unique and innovative approach to assessment of the impact of music on physiotherapy-based rehabilitation.
The research team, led by Dr Costas Karageorghis (Brunel University), is currently examining the impact of “age-congruent functional music” in rehabilitation from muscular-skeletal injuries.
”Age-congruent” music is that which corresponds and emanates from the listening experiences of an individual during their formative years. “Functional” music is that which is carefully coordinated with the tasks and specifics of a rehabilitation session. Preliminary findings suggest that the age-congruent functional music is likely to elicit a number of tangible psychological and physiological benefits to physiotherapy patients.
The Music in Rehab Project aims to take the existing knowledge on the psychophysical and work-enhancing effects of music within exercise and sport environments to the clinical context. Dr Karageorghis and his team at Brunel have been investigating the effects of music for almost 15 years but this is their first collaboration that examines the motivational effects of music within clinical rehabilitation.
Adherence to a rehabilitation programme following an illness or injury ensures that a patient gives himself or herself the best possible opportunity to attain functional mobility and to avoid relapse. Effective rehabilitation saves the NHS money, particularly among groups that generally do not comply with or complete their rehabilitation programme.
Music is an inexpensive but relatively untapped motivational tool in the domain of clinical rehabilitation. Learning about the variables that affect the efficacy of music enables NHS practitioners to tap its motivational and performance-enhancing properties with far greater precision.
The project is a multi-institution venture funded by the WestFocus Consortium through HEIF 3 and conducted by Brunel University, The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust, The University of Westminster, Kingston University and St Georges Hospital Medical School.
The project has coompleted its initial phase of data collection (experimental phase) and ethical clearance has been gained from the NHS. The research team has worked closely with in-house physiotherapists throughout, and this continues through the second data collection phase which should be completed by July 2008.
The project has employed two students who had the opportunity to develop job-specific skills involving patient care, research and health-care environments.
Work in Progress: WestFocus Project Fund Bid (PDF file)
