Ms Karen Twyford
1Perth Children's Hospital, Perth, Australia, 2University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Biography:
Karen is a Music Therapist who has worked in health, education and community sectors in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. She is interested in the role music therapy plays as part of interprofessional approaches and its impact on functional outcomes for children and adolescents with an ABI. Karen holds a research masters, which involved exploring music therapy as part of interprofessional approaches. As a current PhD candidate at the University of Western Australia, Karen's research is investigating the impact of music therapy on functional outcomes for children and adolescents following an acquired brain injury across the rehabilitation spectrum.
Abstract:
Background:
There is increasing evidence for the effectiveness of music therapy in adult neurorehabilitation, and particularly, acquired brain injury (ABI), however there is limited evidence for child and adolescent populations. The exact causal mechanisms of how and why the intervention works have not been explored. We aim to investigate the impact of music therapy for children and adolescents with ABI within paediatric hospital settings and develop theory on how music therapy produces functional outcomes.
Methods:
Realist research provides an understanding of what works, how, for whom and in what circumstances, through developing program theory. A realist inquiry involving realist review and evaluation is currently underway across three separate phases of theory development, testing and consolidation. This presentation will share results from phase 1, including a) realist review of literature, and b) survey of national and international paediatric music therapists.
Results:
The initial program theories and causal mechanisms regarding the impact of music therapy on functional outcomes for children and adolescents with ABI both nationally and internationally will be detailed and next steps for the evaluation will be shared.
Discussion:
This study aims to determine whether a causal relationship exists between music therapy treatment and paediatric patient outcomes. Results are anticipated to inform the next phases of the realist evaluation, which involve testing and consolidation of the identified program theories with a variety of stakeholders including children with an ABI, their families/carers, and medical and allied health professionals employed within ABI teams in tertiary paediatric hospitals in Australia.