Could your expertise help musicians?

If you’re a healthcare professional looking for a new voluntary project to get involved in, here’s an opportunity to use your skills. Dan Hayhurst from BAPAM looks at how you could provide vital support for musicians.

Professional musicians deal with tough physical, emotional and psychological challenges. As well as being vulnerable to accident or injury, they often have to cope with low pay and pressure from management or self-employment while trying to keep working at all costs.

The British Association for Performing Arts Medicine’s (BAPAM) expert support is essential in helping people beat or, even better, prevent arts career-related health problems.

BAPAM is a specialist charity at the forefront of an industry-wide drive to deliver accessible career-specific healthcare to professional and student musicians, and others working in the performing arts.

We also contribute expertise in the developing field of performing arts medicine, its clinical governance and best practice to a network of health care practitioners, arts organisations, charities, unions, educators and employers.

Can you help?

BAPAM’s services are in increasing demand throughout the UK. If you’re a healthcare professional who understands the demands of music performance or an arts career and would like to volunteer to help patients with physical and mental health concerns in BAPAM clinics, we’d love to hear from you.

We’re looking for:

professionals to help patients in general practice, orthopaedics, rheumatology, physiotherapy, osteopathy, psychiatry, vocal rehabilitation);
or we could list you as an independent practitioner in our directory.

Our clinics provide free assessments and recommend appropriate treatment. We ensure that we explore accessible options including NHS services, for patients in a wide variety of employment and financial circumstances, and we work in partnership with funding organisations such as Help Musicians UK to support patients through challenging times.

We provide ongoing training and support but you’ll need to be fully qualified, registered and licensed to practise.

Our clients are fascinating to work with and highly motivated, and we can offer excellent peer support and networking, plus access to unique training and clinical experience. Flexible working arrangements can be agreed on a voluntary basis, with an honorarium of £50 per hour available for clinical work at BAPAM.

What BAPAM offers

You may have come across some of our services as a leisure-time musician.

Directory: An online Directory of Practitioners listing healthcare professionals with expertise solving performing arts related problems, where you could be listed.

Free information resources: You may be familiar with our free information resources, many of which can also be found on the Making Music website, which include advice about preparing for performance from physical warm-ups to psychological self-care, coping with anxiety and challenging working conditions, voice care, hearing, taking care of nutrition and alcohol consumption.

Events: We hold workshops and training events to share game-changing skills for healthy and successful music making.

Free clinics: Our free clinics are available to people who make part or all of their income or study in the performing arts including teachers and crew. The BAPAM Helpline team are happy to advise anyone who needs help so please give us a call on 020 7404 8444.