Major Project Part B - My Community

MUS 365

Vincent Chen

Community – Adults seeking mental health aid

The community that I would like to work with are adult (18 years old and above) with
depression and those seeking mental health aid. This is because in New Zealand, there is a
lack of effective workshops and guidance for musician’s health. According to a survey
conducted by ‘rnz.co.nz’ on whether an adult in NZ has depression, 84% of those who
responded have either experienced or are experiencing a type of mental health problem. I
believe this figure is much too high and that there are better, more effective methods to
decrease the percentage.

There are many reasons as to why there is such a high percentage of adults with mental health
issues, one of which is the lack of funding and high living costs. The workshop will
effectively have to be free or offer some kind of reward for a higher interest in the
community. This will prove to be challenge as any kind of workshop requires funding, and to
create one without resources as well as supplying rewards to the participants, will prove to be
difficult sustain. Each musician will have their own struggles but I believe another reason that
the number of depressed musicians remain high is partly due to COVID-19. The isolation
will have caused musicians, which is predominantly ensemble/large group based, a sort of
loneliness like many others but affecting musicians more so. This proves to be a challenge as
a workshop requires active participation for this community which has been used to isolation
for so long.

However, despite all the challenges, there are still ways to work with this community
effectively. Firstly, to promote our workshop and to let the community know that there is
more help available, promoting in concerts and to therapists is a good way to start. There are
institutes which offer general therapy free of charge for student musicians, such as the
University of Auckland. The main method of communication for this workshop will be music
therapy, where the participants will listen and sing along if desired. Some of these songs
include We will Rock You by Queen.

The outcomes and benefits that this workshop will bring to the community include a better
general health in the community of NZ musicians, an introduction to music therapy for some,
as well as the overall enjoyment in making music with others.

Since adult with mental illness can come from all cultural backgrounds, as well as generally a
negative lookout on life, there are some signs that our ensemble will need to be aware of.
This includes approaching communication very sensitively and making a very positive
outlook on our topics, and also different cultures will mean different languages so our song
choice will need to be relatively easy and repetitive to sing along to.