Functionally oriented music therapy and long-term pain

This project aims to explore and evaluate a hitherto relatively unresearched treatment method for people living with long-term pain. The project's starting point is that it is urgent to develop evidence-based methods that can promote health and well-being, relieve suffering and lead to an improved quality of life in the target group.

The method "Functionally oriented music therapy" (FMT), to be studied in the present project, can be such a method. In FMT, music and movement are combined for health-promoting purposes, which can be assumed to lead to experiences of well-being and recovery. Through a care agreement with the FMT treatment center in Eskilstuna, the method is already used in primary care in Region Sörmland, Sweden, but the method is not evidence-based, which is why scientific evaluation is needed. The project is urgent both from a societal and patient perspective, among other things because healthcare resources need to be used more efficiently than today. To evaluate the method, both qualitative and quantitative research methodology will be used.

If the results of the studies are positive, i.e. if you can find evidence that various aspects of health are specifically affected/improved, then the results can be used as an evidence-based support for health promotion purposes for people with long-term pain. If, on the other hand, the results show that FMT has no or only little effect, that in itself is an important contribution to new knowledge about treatment and recovery in people with long-term pain. Today, FMT is used in, among other things, habilitation, rehabilitation and psychiatric care. However, research is needed that deals with the method's health-promoting efforts even in the case of long-term pain problems. Hence the present studies are of high value.

The overall aim of this project is to evaluate the effects of FMT in people with long-term pain in comparison to the care that is usually given in close care. Furthermore, the aim is to create a deeper understanding about the importance of music and movement from a recovery perspective for people with long-term pain.

Project objective

To evaluate the (FMT) method, both qualitative and quantitative. To create a deeper understanding about the importance of music and movement from a recovery perspective for people with long-term pain.