SCHS LAUNCHES THE NINTH BATCH OF ITS CADRE IN (MUSIC THERAPY PROGRAM)
In February, Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS) launched the ninth batch of its cadre in the "Music Therapy Program". SCHS has been organizing this program since 2013, in cooperation with the University of "Iowa" from South Korea, and the Korean Association for Music Therapy.
Music therapy is a professional intervention for using music to improve non-musical functioning through structured musical behaviors and experiences. Through a systematic process of screening, planning, implementation, and evaluation, beneficiaries can achieve developmental, physical, psychological, and emotional goals.
Ms. Khadija Ahmed Bamakhramah, Planning, Follow-up Officer, and General Supervisor of the Music Therapy Program said, “SCHS is very keen to keep abreast of the best international practices and methodologies in the field of music therapy and to ensure the sustainability of the program. Therefore, SCHS has launched the music therapy-training program for the ninth batch of its cadre, in cooperation with the University of Iowa and the Korean Association for Music Therapy”.
SCHS was keen to qualify and train its technical and educational staff on using the techniques and strategies of music therapy on the hands of experts and specialists from the University of Iowa. SCHS aims at forming a supportive structure of competencies in the field.
The program contributes to developing the capabilities of students with physical, social, linguistic and educational disabilities. It provides opportunities for them to improve their quality of life, participation and integration into society, which SCHS is keen to achieve through organizing the program and training of its staff to master its techniques at the hands of the most skilled specialists.
Music therapy is used for all different levels and forms of experience and musical activities for the needs of the beneficiary, which include from understanding and reception to expression, and from listening to playing and singing. It is also a supportive treatment for other medical conditions such as promoting health, managing stress, and relieving pain, expressing emotions, strengthening memory, improving communication, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and promoting physical rehabilitation.
Ms. Khadija Ahmed said, “Currently, (15) teachers and specialists have joined the training. They aim at mastering music therapy basic methodologies and skills, so that they use it in training students with disabilities and empowering them with the best rehabilitation and therapeutic programs. These programs would contribute to developing their abilities and skills physically, socially, linguistically, and educationally. Approximately, 876 male and female students with different disabilities in SCHS benefited from music therapy sessions. Specialists with competence in the field from the University of Iowa, numbering (34) and SCHS staff, who qualified to practice and implement the program, numbering (116) teachers and specialists applied the sessions”.
Since its establishment in 1979, Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services has been keen to develop and upgrade the services provided to persons with disabilities and to achieve its vision of being a leading institution in the inclusion, advocacy and empowerment of persons with disabilities. Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services is the first institution concerned with the affairs of persons with disabilities at the state level. The music therapy program is part of its services provided to this segment of society, through cooperation with the University of Iowa in South Korea.