The CI Music Hour: Building community and promoting well-being through music appreciation

The Cochlear Implant (CI) Music Hour is a weekly music appreciation session hosted by a major university in the United States. Led by researchers in music and audiology, the CI Music Hour combines research and community engagement. This study primarily examined the relationship between involvement in the CI Music Hour, musicianship and general well-being of its participants during its two years of existence. A second aim was to uncover resources, learning environments and relationships that our community members found meaningful in the CI Music Hour. In this mixed methods study, we collected qualitative data from weekly CI Music Hour observations and in-depth interviews, and quantitative data in the form of a self-report on musicianship from sixteen community members. Findings were analysed using Martin Seligman’s five categories of well-being, along with an additional category for negative emotions from the PERMA (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment)-profiler. Our findings suggest that although experiences and levels of musicianship varied, instances of negative emotions were counterbalanced with positive experiences identified in Seligman’s well-being theory. Many of these experiences were the direct result of music making within a group setting and building connections with fellow CI users, thus indicating a benefit to participating in the CI Music Hour.