title: Meeting Art with Art: Arts-Based Methods Enhance Researcher Reflexivity in Research with Mental Health Service Users.
abstract: This paper presents a rationale for arts-based practices in music therapy research, and provides an example of using ABR techniques in research. Arts-based materials are increasingly demonstrated to have the capacity to extend processes of reflexivity and analysis in a range of qualitative health research studies. By comparison, music therapy research studies have rarely employed arts-based methods or techniques. There is a need for more studies in music therapy that employ arts-based research to demystify and elaborate a wider range of creative approaches within music therapy inquiry. In the study described in this paper, ABR was used to reflect on the contribution of a service user in a community mental health context who participated in a focus group about his experiences of music therapy. ABR was found to offer a creative way to engage service users, and to deepen and extend the researcher's reflexivity when responding to materials created by research participants.
authors.affiliation: Irish World Academy of Music & Dance, University of Limerick, Ireland School of Health & Social Development, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Tríona
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McCaffrey
authors.affiliation: Irish World Academy of Music & Dance, University of Limerick, Ireland School of Health & Social Development, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Edwards
mesh_terms: D001154:Art; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D003405:Creativity; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009147:Music Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D036301:Qualitative Research