Music, health and well-being in IJCM articles: An integrative review

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the ways health and well-being-related terms and concepts (health, well-being, quality of life, wellness) appear in International Journal of Community Music (IJCM) articles. The research questions were: (1) how are health and well-being concepts defined or expressed in IJCM articles? (2) What are the central themes or trends in the use of health and well-being terms in IJCM articles? And (3) what are the implications of the use of health and well-being terms for the practice and research of community music? Utilizing an integrative review methodology and supported by database software Airtable, this study examined the application, discussion, operationalization, and contextualization of music, health and wellness terms and concepts as they appear in IJCM to determine the degree of conceptual coherence on health and well-being related terms. Despite the historical and growing interest in connections between music, health and wellness among community music researchers, analysis revealed a lack of coherence in the use of health-related terms and concepts. Further, health and well-being are rarely operationalized in IJCM articles. As a result, findings from studies are not comparable and it is difficult for the knowledge base to advance.