Who does what and why? Exploring the music, health and wellbeing continuum

Confusion frequently exists around the various uses of music for health and wellbeing, and the roles of different agents using music for health benefits. This confusion is often based on a lack of definition and understanding of the many different applications and how they can fit together with training and experience. Our Music, Health and Wellbeing continuum has been collaboratively developed at Western Sydney University, Australia, to incorporate the many uses of music for health benefits across a broad spectrum of roles, agents and applications. This ranges from environmental and personal through to community, health practitioners and qualified music therapists. This article outlines and identifies the many different roles within this continuum, providing examples and evidence of how this conceptual framework can contribute to and support everyday practice around the uses of music and music therapy to improve health and wellbeing for clients and patients. We extend this into systematic feedback from key informants with discussions of applications and a further Annexe to delineate the potential multiple roles of each individual. Consequently, we propose that our entire continuum contributes to increased understanding of the many roles and agents using music for health and wellbeing benefits in our community.