Would you join a sing-along session with your work colleagues?
RFQ and University of Southern Queensland have collaborated for a research partnership examining the role of music in self-care for mental health support workers. The project encompassed four workshops, with a focus on group singing, music listening, music-making, and song-writing.
ABC’s Life Matters program recently interviewed Melissa Forbes from UniSQ and choir leader Emma Dean about the musical care program.
“We know that people working in the mental health space experience burnout and stress at far greater rates than the average worker. This partnership is designed to provide an innovative response to dealing with that stress – and that response is using music in the workplace”, said Melissa.
“It’s about building a sense of group identity, a sense of belonging, and getting to know your colleagues through music. There are a range of ways to use music as an active form as a form of self-care, rather than just passively listening to it.”
Self-proclaimed ‘choir nerd’ Emma Dean, who facilitated the group singing and song-writing workshops, said it was fascinating to watch the group dynamics unfold.
“You never know how a workshop like this is going to go. Everyone in this workshop has either no, or very limited, experience with group-singing. But everyone understood the stakes were low – it was about joy, enjoyment, listening, exploring. It’s not about perfection; it’s about connection,” said Emma.
“It quickly became clear that this was a really safe space for these support workers, who had really never had an experience like this before. As it turns out, it took about half an hour for the nerves to leave and there was an instant group bond.”
Listen to the interview here – https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/singing-at-work-for-wellbeing/106670870
