A scoping review of occupational health education programs for music students and teachers

Embedding musicians’ occupational health training in music education curricula is widely recommended due to the well-documented high prevalence of performance-related health problems (PRHPs) among musicians across their lifespan. A scoping review was conducted to examine the range of evidence from implementations of musicians’ health education programs, regarding the maintenance of hearing, musculoskeletal, psychological, and vocal health, as well as injury prevention strategies to minimize the risk of PRHP. Eligible sources of evidence included published and unpublished studies reporting occupational health education programs (which may have incorporated information on physical or psychological health, exercise, or somatic movement training) implemented with pre-tertiary and tertiary music students and teachers. Studies reporting stand-alone psychological health education were excluded. Key characteristics from included studies were extracted and charted. Data charts outline commonalities across the reported results, including physical, psychological, educational, and behavioral change outcome measures. Out of 46 records included for data extraction, 35 reported programs with tertiary-aged music students, seven reported programs with pre-tertiary-aged music students, two reported programs with music teachers, and two reported systematic reviews. Reported benefits from this research with both pre-tertiary and tertiary music students suggest that musicians’ health education and injury prevention strategies reduce self-reported playing-related pain and music performance anxiety. However, future implementation studies need to address identified challenges such as effective behavior change and the enablers and barriers to the long-term adoption of strategies for optimal music performance and health outcomes. This review highlights the need for further research into designing and embedding musicians’ health education into all music training settings, including more implementations with pre-tertiary music students, as well as training to support the professional development needs of instrumental and vocal teachers.