Who can benefit

Music therapy can improve health and wellbeing, particularly in situations where illness or disability has impaired a person’s ability to communicate. Music therapists across the UK work with people of all ages and with a range of conditions which affect their quality of life. For music therapy to be effective, it is not essental for the person in therapy to have previous musical experience or to be skilled in playing an instrument.

For more than 30 years, the Music Therapy Charity has funded research into the therapeutic benefits of music therapy. Areas of investigation have included the ways in which music therapists present their work and the effectiveness of music therapy with

• children on the autistic spectrum;
• children with intellectual and developmental disability;
• adults with learning disabilities,
• people living with the virus HIV/AIDS,
• adult offenders;
• children who have suffered abuse:
• teenagers with eating disorders:
• adolescents with severe emotional and behavioural problems who are at risk of underachieving or exclusion.

There are exciting developments in the applications of music therapy in dementia care, as well as a growing need and from 2013/14 this will be the priority for funding applications for large projects.

Read more about MTC funded projects and the Research Fellows.