Cultural Considerations for Music Therapists Working with Immigrant Korean Elders in America: A Literature Review

Author

Sin Ae KimFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-22-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Dr. Ara Parker

Abstract

This literature review aims to introduce Korean cultural context to music therapists with little to no experience working with immigrant Korean elders and explore within the literature on the music therapy theory the possibilities of better serving immigrant Korean elders in America. This paper is intended to act as a recommendation for music therapists to be able to better serve immigrant Korean elders within their practice through cultural considerations and other key topics. Five key topics are explored: (a) culture and cultural sensitivity, (b) characteristics of Korean culture, (c) Korean traditional therapeutic music, (d) immigrant Korean elders and the issues they face, and (e) music therapy approaches for immigrant Korean elders. In addition, this literature review offers relevant recommendations based on personal experiences as well as supplementary research and observations made within said experiences.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Kim, Sin Ae, "Cultural Considerations for Music Therapists Working with Immigrant Korean Elders in America: A Literature Review" (2021). Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses. 412.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_theses/412