Liliana S. Araújo

A entrevista no estudo da Excelência: Uma proposta

The present study investigated implicit and explicit attitudes toward people with disabilities and examined the effects of internal versus external source of motivation to respond without prejudice. The implicit and explicit attitudes of undergraduate students (N = 109) toward people with disabilities were measured, and the effects of both kinds of motivation in regulating prejudice were investigated. The results were as follows: undergraduate students had positive explicit attitudes toward people with disabilities; however, they were also found to have negative implicit attitudes toward people with disabilities; and high internal motivation to regulate prejudice effectively moderated implicit attitudes toward people with disabilities. We discuss possible ways to effectively moderate prejudice in education.

Profiling the location and extent of musicians’ pain using digital pain drawings

According to existing literature, musicians are at risk of experiencing a range of painful musculoskeletal conditions. Recently, a novel digital technology was developed to investigate pain location and pain extent. The aim of this study was to describe pain location and pain extent in musicians using a digital method for pain drawing (PD) analysis. Additionally, the association between PD variables and clinical features were explored in musicians with pain.

Perceived Enablers and Barriers to Optimal Health among Music Students: A Qualitative Study in the Music Conservatoire Setting

Student health and wellbeing within higher education has been documented as poor in relation to the general population. This is a particular problem among students at music conservatoires, who are studying within a unique educational context that is known to generate both physical and psychological challenges. This article examines how conservatoire students experience health and wellbeing within their institutional context, using a framework from health promotion to focus attention on perceived enablers and barriers to optimal health in relation to three levels: lifestyle, support services, and conservatoire environment. In order to respond to the individuality of students’ experiences, a qualitative approach was taken based on semi-structured interviews with 20 current or recent conservatoire students in the United Kingdom. Thematic analysis revealed a complex set of enablers and barriers: (i) lifestyle enablers included value placed on the importance of optimal health and wellbeing for musicians and daily practices to enable this; lifestyle barriers included struggling to maintain healthy lifestyles within the context of musical practice and learning; (ii) support enablers included accessible support sources within and beyond the conservatoire; support barriers included a perceived lack of availability or awareness of appropriate support; (iii) environmental enablers included positive and enjoyable experiences of performance as well as strong relationships and communities; environmental barriers included experiences of comparison and competition, pressure and stress, challenges with negative performance feedback, psychological distress, and perceived overwork. The findings reveal a need for health promotion to focus not only on individuals but also on the daily practices and routines of conservatoires. Additionally, they suggest that continued work is required to embed health and wellbeing support as an integral component of conservatoire education, raising awareness so that all students are fully informed of where, and how, to seek the information or help that they may need. Finally, they indicate a need for more radical scrutiny of the cultures of conservatoires and an assessment of how these can be modified to best optimize students’ health and wellbeing.

Fit to Perform: An Investigation of Higher Education Music Students’ Perceptions, Attitudes, and Behaviors toward Health

Making music at the highest international standards can be rewarding, but it is also challenging, with research highlighting pernicious ways in which practicing and performing can affect performers’ health and wellbeing. Several studies indicate that music students’ perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors toward health and healthy living are less than optimal, especially considering the multiple physical and psychological demands of their day-to-day work. This article presents the results of a comprehensive screening protocol that investigated lifestyle and health-related attitudes and behaviors among 483 undergraduate and postgraduate students (mean age = 21.29 years ± 3.64; 59% women) from ten conservatoires. The protocol included questionnaires measuring wellbeing, general health, health-promoting behaviors, perfectionism, coping, sleep quality, and fatigue. On each measure, the data were compared with existing published data from similar age groups. The results indicate that music students have higher levels of wellbeing and lower fatigue than comparable samples outside of music. However, they also reveal potentially harmful perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors toward health. Specifically, engagement in health responsibility and stress management was low, which along with high perfectionistic strivings, limited use of coping strategies, poor sleep quality, and low self-rated health, paints a troubling picture both for the music students and for those who support their training. The findings point to the need for more (and more effective) health education and promotion initiatives within music education; in particular, musicians should be better equipped with mental skills to cope with constant pressure to excel and high stress levels. In part, this calls for musicians themselves to engage in healthier lifestyles, take greater responsibility for their own health, and be aware of and act upon health information in order to achieve and sustain successful practice and performance. For that to happen, however, music educators, administrators, and policy makers must play an active role in providing supportive environments where health and wellbeing is considered integral to expert music training.

Pain Analysis in Musicians Using Digital Pain Drawings

Fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by chronic, widespread musculoskeletal pain with tender points and stiffness in association with fatigue, poor sleep. It affects an estimated 3.7 million people in the United States especially women. Fibromyalgia is a diagnosis that has become more prevalent in recent years. Patient usually receives pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical treatments to help manage the condition. Some of the nonpharmaceutical methods of managing fibromyalgia include physical therapy, massage, manual therapy and exercise therapy. It is the author’s opinion that manual therapy and exercise is an effective method of managing fibromyalgia. In this article the author presents a case report of a patient with fibromyalgia who did respond positively to the treatment using manual therapy and exercises [1].

The interview in the study of Excelence: a proposal

A investigacao em torno da Excelencia Humana tem primado pela multiplicidade de abordagens teoricas e metodologicas ao seu estudo. Por um lado, o proprio conceito de excelencia encerra a dificuldade da sua operacionalizacao, reflectindo-se numa multiplicidade de criterios de identificacao e de metodos de investigacao. Por outro lado, a singularidade subjacente ao proprio conceito de excelencia alimenta a discussao em torno das metodologias mais adequadas ao seu estudo. As abordagens quantitativas reclamam o estudo objectivo e laboratorial do desempenho excepcional, embora se questione o significado de resultados generalizaveis e quantificaveis sobre desempenhos singulares ou individuais. Neste sentido, a investigacao podera beneficiar de uma abordagem mais aprofundada e compreensiva dos percursos de excelencia proporcionada pelas metodologias qualitativas. Outros autores defendem ainda o recurso a metodologias mistas procurando vencer limitacoes e ampliar potencialidades no estudo da excelencia. Estudos recentes com individuos excepcionais tem utilizado a entrevista como um instrumento privilegiado de recolha de dados. Neste artigo apresentamos uma revisao de literatura onde foram analisadas as principais caracteristicas de entrevistas utilizadas no estudo da excelencia em diferentes contextos de realizacao. Como corolario desta revisao apresentamos uma proposta de guiao de entrevista procurando, assim, contribuir para o estudo do desenvolvimento e manutencao da excelencia.