A Critical Review of the Literature on the Accessibility of Music Therapy in Rural Areas in the USA for Families with Children with Special Needs

Author

Carolyn Artesani, Lesley UniversityFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-18-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Rebecca Zarate

Abstract

This capstone thesis explores the topic of the accessibility of music therapy in rural areas of the United States for families with children with special needs. Through a critical review of the literature on this topic, it was found that the small body of knowledge on music therapy in rural parts of the USA focused on populations other than families with children with special needs (Brotons & Marti, 2003; Leist, 2011; Levy, Spooner, Lee, Sonke, Myers, & Snow, 2018; Sisk, 2016). Literature from music therapy journals as well as related health professions were analyzed and synthesized to further understand why access to music therapy is limited for families with children with special needs living in rural areas. From the literature, ways of increasing accessibility and developing music therapy practices in rural parts of the country for this population included family-centered music therapy (Forrest, 2014; Gutierrez-Jimenéz & Franco, 2018; Nicholson, Berthelsen, Abad, Williams, & Bradley, 2008; Thompson, 2017), home-based music therapy (Forrest, 2014; Schmid & Ostermann, 2010), community music therapy (Bolger, 2015), resource-oriented music therapy (Pasiali, 2012; Rolvsjord, 2004), and culturally competent music therapy (Bolger, 2015; Forrest, 2014; Whitehead-Pleaux, Brink, & Tan, 2017). From these approaches, a model is developed that incorporates the approaches and findings highlighted above for increasing the accessibility of music therapy in rural areas for families with children with special needs.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Artesani, Carolyn, "A Critical Review of the Literature on the Accessibility of Music Therapy in Rural Areas in the USA for Families with Children with Special Needs" (2019). Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses. 210.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_theses/210