Musikkterapi for mennesker med rusmiddelproblematikk: En kvalitativ metasyntese om erfaringer og opplevelser

Background: Music therapy and other music-based therapies have become common in Norwegian mental health and drug misuse treatments in recent years. There are studies indicating that music therapy has good effect on this patient group. There is recommendation from the Norwegian Directorate of Health that music therapy should be offered in drug rehabilitation programs. However, little research exists on how people with substance abuse problems experience this form of therapy. Aim: This study aims to compare existing research of the experiences of people with substance abuse problems with music therapy. Research-question: How do people with substance abuse problems experience participating in music therapy? Methods: The qualitative metasynthesis included systematic literature searches in the databases Medline, Cinahl, PsycINFO and SocINDEX. After a critical assessment of the qualitative research articles, seven studies were included in the metasynthesis. Results: This metasynthesis results in six themes identified through analysis of the included primary studies. The results show that people with substance abuse experience music therapy as an arena for emotional stimuli and arena for social gathering. They also find that music therapy contributes to the sense of joy, heightened self-esteem and a sense of break in everyday life. Experience of spirituality is also a topic that this study illustrates. Conclusion: The metasynthesis concludes that the experiences people with substance abuse problems with music therapy have, are largely positive. The experiences that are described also match the “recovery” philosophy and the salutogenic model. Key-words: Drug abuse, substance abuse, drug addiction, music therapy, music-based interventions and qualitative.