Adaptation of Music Therapists´ Practice to the COVID-19 Pandemic - Going Virtual: a Scoping Review (Preprint)
Authors: Kantorova Lucia , Kantor Jiri , Horejsi Barbora , Klugar Miloslav , Svobodova Zuzana , Mareckova Jana , Gilboa Avi , Lipsky Matej 
Published: December 2020

BACKGROUND

During this worldwide health crisis with its impact on the traditional service delivery models, even music therapists previously not involved in telehealth were required to develop effective remote forms of music therapy. They have encountered changes in service hours and delivery, changes in their positions, increase in using alternative services and have adapted and continued to provide services to their various clients.

OBJECTIVE

This scoping review aims to provide an overview of evidence on the experience of music therapists with adapting their therapeutic practice during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically the transfer of the previously in-person type of therapy into any form of online, remote, contactless service. The review also provides an overview of guidance from music therapy professional organizations. No systematic review has been identified on this topic.

METHODS

We searched Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, CINAHL, Medline, ProQuest Central, PubMed, EMBASE a PsycINFO s PsyARTICLES, grey literature (on 25th October 2020) and websites of professional organizations, complemented by a thorough manual search of reference lists and relevant journals and papers (in November 2020). We included any type of text from published and unpublished sources with an abstract in English in the year 2020 on how music therapists previously working in-person with their clients adapted to the transfer to remote forms of therapy in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. Risk of bias was not formally assessed. Results were screened and charted by two reviewers independently and presented in a narrative and tabular form. All data are also provided in the supplementary material.

RESULTS

Ten articles were included in this scoping review which were heterogenous in their design, methods, client groups or setting and their overall quality was very low. Most texts described remote therapy in the form of synchronous video calls using the Internet, while one paper performed a concert in a patio of a residential home. Ten papers provided information on the experience with adapting the services, eight papers contained information on the challenges and benefits of remote forms of therapy, and three associations provided freely available recommendations on their websites.

CONCLUSIONS

Teleservices should continue to be used in music therapy, and developed and spread even more. We encourage music therapists and organizations to publish their experience with adapting their services during the pandemic. More research is needed to determine how effective remote music therapy is compared to in-person delivery for the various client groups. Researchers should also address costs, barriers, inequities, and risks of remote forms of music therapy, both from the perspective of the therapists and clients/families. Recommendations should be based on evidence, whether scientific or expert, or a combination.