Im stuck on my essay, can someone help?

[TheDayMyButtWentPsycho]

Really simple question actually - just an issue ive never come across before. I can email my lecturers but i know they wont get back to me until Monday and im trying to crack on with it this weekend.

Im researching a subject (medical) that is big in america with positive effects on its patients.

The UK are archaic when it comes to this therapy. There are no books in my uni library on it, there's very few (Im yet to find any) UK academic studies/journal articles in the uni online library.

i need to be able to state this, but i need to back it up.

I cant just say "theres fuck all therapies in UK" I need to be able to back that up. I need an academic to have said it (otherwise, whats to say it isnt just my bad research skills??)

Ive also found a company online who actually do this therapy and they claim to be the only one in the UK that does this therapy.
i want to state this, but thats just words on their website. My son could have written that for them, so I cant back that up either.

Basically- How do I say theres bugger all in the UK and back that up when theres bugger all in the UK to back it up with?

Ive read countless US journal articles on the subject and as of yet, no one has mentioned the fact that theres bugger all in the UK.

Excuse my typos, blabbering and mistakes, Im typing fast on a laptop im not familiar with.

i hope Ive made sense???

I’d list out the research and sites, etc., you’ve checked to back up your statement.

If she has chosen to apply the essay to an area where there is little research then she has chosen badly!

So because nothing / very little is known, the OP shouldn't explore it?

I would say she has chosen wisely.

You could contact the Research & Development/ Clinical Audit departments at couple of tertiary centres such as Alder Hey, GOSH. Manchester Children's could also be a good one & ask if they could discuss any research or Clinical Audits undertaken by them.

Have you looked at Nordoff Robbins website?

https://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/sites/default/files/researchanddresourcesforrmusictherapyy2016final.pdf

I'd also contact the same departments at Cornwall because they may have undertaken further research & audits, following the article as those aren't published.

Rather than say that OP needs to rephrase her question. If she has chosen to apply the essay to an area where there is little research then she has chosen badly! She needs to choose again. I suspect that is all that will be concluded.

That’s not necessarily true - it depends on the level of study, at Masters level the absence of research can indicate a gap in existing knowledge which the OP could fill in part through her course of study. Surely the whole point of advanced study is to find areas where research is needed?

Surely the whole point of advanced study is to find areas where research is needed?

Indeed. The fact that there is so little research on it and the fact that the UK seem so behind with arts based therapy generally is exactly why I chose to do an essay on it.

Imagine never researching and studying something just because there was little research out there. It would forever remain hidden.
Thanks for all the links, I'm back on it tomorrow, I look forward to looking into them.

To the PP researcher, thanks for pointing out that the current evidence is tiny. I hadn't considered using that as a critique but I certainly will now.

I'm not an academic. Will a footnote saying you've asked Mumsnet not be sufficient?

Yes, my wording was crap. My point was that if this was an undergraduate essay, someone set the title so there had to be research and academic evidence available to support the topic

If, however, you're writing a post-grad research paper or a thesis and you're finding insufficient evidence from UK sources to support your working theory, I'm unclear on what you're asking for. Do you want assistance on phrasing or assistance on research? You've had both here and I'm none the wiser.

On looking at Google Scholar I can find a dozen UK sources in quick succession for neonate responses to music provided for therapeutic reasons, mostly from the 1990s. They are from peer reviewed journals. They may not be relevant to to your area of study.

In terms of an approach to how to phrase the issue of limited UK research on this subject, you could consider amongst this the NHS funding issues which may lead to a lack of holistic care pathways, lack of confidence in "alternative therapies", NHS (and social care) reluctance to fund additional care needs and methods when there are issues in funding core requirements such as nursing etc. That may make for a long chapter in itself. There is plenty of evidence of this out there.

The fact that there is so little research on it and the fact that the UK seem so behind with arts based therapy generally is exactly why I chose to do an essay on it.

It all depends on the focus of your essay. If it is an essay (presumably a lit review?) specifically on the therapy in the UK, then I would look at a different topic as the point of a lit review is to review the literature. If there's none there, you haven't demonstrated your ability to do so.

If it's a review of the therapy generally with a section on its use in the UK, then it's reasonable to review the global literature and then talk about the gap in the UK.

Alternatively, if you're doing a research project on the therapy, and intend testing its efficacy, then a lack of research in the UK gives you a very nice gap in the literature and excellent justification for your study.

You've had some advice on how to word the lack of literature, but I would be wary of taking it if your focus is the therapy in the UK specifically.

"The UK are archaic when it comes to this therapy. "

I feel uncomfortable with that statement b/c it seems to not understand how NHS works. The NHS funds fairly little truly experimental treatment, that's true. NHS being tax-payer funded, they have to overwhelmingly fund only proven treatment. This is not an archaic policy, it's a cost-effective one. There is very minimal slack in the budget to do untried or unnecessary things.

*untried, unproven, mechanisms not clearly demonstrated to be effective, etc. The NHS is obsessed with evidence-based medicine. They have to be.

Surely the whole point of advanced study is to find areas where research is needed?

Depends on how advanced your study is. If you're doing a taught masters with a minor research component, then you will be mainly developing skills that you would use doing further research. If you are doing a research masters or a PhD, then yes, you need to identify a gap and then carry out some level of research into the area.

NICE guidelines are based on evidence based research based on research studies found in the Cochrane library.

It sounds like your search is too broad and you need to be more specific in your research.

What specifically is the neonatal music therapy used for? If it’s pain management for example this will help pin down relevant research studies.

Look at Cochrane reports, that’s where most of the NICE guidelines come from, and if the therapy isn’t used in England/UK it’s probably due to there not being enough evidence/research to back up that it’s beneficial to the user group (pre term neonates in this case).

If you can’t find any evidence/research in the UK and it’s all based abroad that’s the basis of your argument and how guidelines in the UK could be improved by alternative therapies (music therapy) as other countries (USA) have found it beneficial due to x y z reason and the UK uses x y z practices which cost x y z whereas music therapy could save the NHS £ x y z money and improve the outcome to neonates by x %.

I’d start with looking at the current NICE guidelines for specialist neonatal care, then start looking at alternative therapies. This will be the basis of your argument.

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs4

State where you have searched, ie, CINAHL, pubmed etc, what search terms you’ve used, your exclusion criteria and add it as an appendix. That’ll show that there is definitively no literature if that’s the case.

Also when you do your research I’d recommend using different search terms such as ‘pre term neonates’ ‘premature baby’ premature neonates’ medical literate will most likely use premature neonate as their terminology.

Bubbles108 nasty and unkind, helpful thank you.

Factual, imo.

Have you tried asking Nordoff-Robbins? www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk

Surely the whole point of advanced study is to find areas where research is needed And if OP is using this essay to work her way up to doctoral research then yes,but she needs to word it well, as some other posters have demonstrated. Merely saying that there isn't a lot out there is not good enough. That statement has to lead somewhere, not just be an excuse for not finding any appropriate studies.

the fact that the UK seem so behind with arts based therapy generally is exactly why I chose to do an essay on it. This bothers me! It isn't a true statement, it ignores the enormous funding stream for many 'alternative' therapies, within the NHS and in the private and charitable sector. Not least the work on MIND, BAAT, all of the Arts Councils, etc.

This looks a really good starting point OP.
A family-centred psycho-social support intervention – live music therapy on the neonatal unit at Royal Cornwall Hospital.

Taken from the research:

“Music therapy is an established psychological clinical intervention, which is delivered by HCPC registered music therapists to help people whose lives have been affected by injury, illness or disability through supporting their psychological, emotional, cognitive, physical, communicative and social needs”

Attachment and perinatal mental health being addressed nationally (Better Births / PMH teams / more mum and baby units / PIP-UK / MABIM / video interactive guidance/etc.)
Standards: Toolkit For High Quality Neonatal Services (DOH 2009)
POPPYreport(NCT2009):earlypsychosocialneedsof NICU/NNU families still needs attention
Bliss Family Centred Charter (www.bliss.org.uk/starting-the-audit)

The references on the end slides that would make a good starting point

www.maternityandmidwifery.co.uk/events/wp-downloads/london-2018/presentations/MMF_London_2018_Presentation_Seminar_16_Wendy_Jeenes.pdf

Neonatal care resreach from BLISS includes the poppy report that talks about music therapy.

www.bliss.org.uk/research-campaigns/research/research-reports-and-findings

In the UK Music Therapists come under the umbrella of Arts Therapists.
Arts Therapists are registered by the hcpc.
Try googling hcpc music therapists.