A scoping review of the use of music as an arts-based method in migrant health research

Background There is a growing awareness of the need to include people’s lived experiences in health decision-making. While much progress has been made in this field, exclusionary patterns persist regarding migrant participation in health research. The aim of this scoping review was to examine the available literature around the use of music as an arts-based research (ABR) method in migrant health research in order to extend knowledge of creative methods and tools used for migrant participation in health research. Methods Our review follows a scoping review methodology. Searches were conducted in 11 electronic databases between June and August, 2020. We identified 14 eligible references published between January 2009 and August 2020. We analysed how music is utilised as an arts-based research method in community-based health and wellbeing contexts primarily with refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, and members of resettled immigrant communities. Results The findings show that music’s role is most prominent as a tool for recruitment and engagement followed by its use as a tool for dissemination. Music is effective as a means to co-produce and communicate knowledge of lived experiences of migration and related wellbeing issues. Recommendations and conclusions Our recommendations for further research include the need for increased detail on the musical element in ABR projects; Explicit identification of such research as ABR; Greater recognition of a multi-arts understanding of music in the context of ABR; Harnessing the potential of music in ABR across the research cycle. We conclude that arts-based research using music shows promise for capturing the complexity of migrants’ lives and health issues in an ethical way. It warrants further investigation in empirical studies in multiple clinical and community settings to understand its processes and impacts on the evidence base for migrant health.


Introduction
It is becoming increasingly important to incorporate public involvement in health decision-making.This is recognised by policy makers, academics and community stakeholders for multiple and inter-related reasons such as the need for greater accountability of health agencies to the public, the need for public engagement to build a comprehensive evidence base and contribute to its implementation (Gibson et al., 2012;Popay et al., 2021).It is increasingly recognised that people are experts in their own health and that this experiential knowledge must be incorporated into health research contexts (Popay & Williams, 2006;Wallersteins et al., 2018.This knowledge, based on lived experience, can play an important role in positive health promotion (Ascenso et al., 2018;Tarr et al., 2014); the prevention of ill health (Chabot et al., 2019;Fancourt & Perkins, 2018; the management and treatment of illness (Cao et al., 2016;Wan et al., 2010); health services and strategy development (WHO, 2018;WHO Europe, 2002;WHO Europe, 2018), and health research (HRB Strategy, 2016-2020;Wallerstein et al., 2018).Despite significant progress regarding public involvement in health research, further development is needed in specific areas, particularly in terms of the need to increase migrant participation in health research (de Freitas and Martin, 2015;MacFarlane, 2019;MacFarlane et al., 2021).However, this is both complex and challenging for various reasons.For example migrants are a heterogeneous group of peoples.There is no agreed singular definition for a 'migrant'.The term has been most broadly defined as "anyone who has moved from their habitual residence (within or across borders)" (https://www.iom.int/who-is-a-migrant).Migration and mobility can also lead to major challenges in terms of social inclusion and research participation where the reason for migration, transit journey and arrival conditions in a host country are not favourable (e.g. for people seeking protection, or who are undocumented) (Roura et al., 2021).Furthermore, belonging to an ethnic group with particular social and cultural practices may further undermine social inclusion and research participation within migrant groups or host populations (Roura et al., 2021;Rubin et al., 2010).The incorporation of social and cultural practices in research contexts is the key focus of our review.Considering the ethical imperatives of incorporating migrants' expertise in the development of a broader knowledge-base, a key question in gathering the available evidence of best practice in this context, is how migrant involvement in health research can be optimised in ways that are socially and culturally attuned with their lives and health needs?
A Participatory Health Research paradigm prioritises active engagement of participants in the research process, from inception to completion and dissemination, and has relevance to the exploration of this question.Participatory Health Research emphasises the co-creation of knowledge and community consultation, action and ownership (Wright, 2015).There are multiple approaches and methodologies in the 'family' of Participatory Health Research: many of them draw attention to the ways in which spaces are set up for community members and other, usually more powerful, actors from the academy, health sector or government to meet and work together (MacFarlane, 2019).Participatory spaces are shaped by the tools, practices and techniques that are used by researchers/ facilitators to create and support mutual dialogue between these actors from diverse backgrounds (Cornwall & Coelho, 2006;de Freitas & Martin, 2015;Kothari, 2001;MacFarlane, 2019;Power, 2001).In music research, for example, it has been shown that musical practices, particularly singing, are effective in creating dialogic space (Marsh, 2019), fostering community participation and engagement by evoking empathy (Ahlquist, 2006;Bithell, 2014;Clarke et al., 2015;Magowan, 2019;Phelan, 2017) accelerating social bonding in newly formed and diverse singing groups (Pearce et al., 2015), and creating a sense of belonging for newly arrived migrant people (Balsnes, 2016;Phelan, 2017;Phelan et al., 2017;Raanaas et al., 2019).Literature with a specific focus on music and migrant health and wellbeing in community settings is also increasing (Balsnes, 2016;Cain et al., 2020;Henderson et al., 2017;Phelan, 2017;Phelan et al., 2017).While music's role in health and wellbeing is well documented, it is notable that reviews on arts-based methods in health contexts illustrate a lack of published research regarding the use of music as an arts-based research method (Boydell et al., 2012;Coemans & Hannes, 2017;Fraser & al Sayah, 2011).Thus it is important to know how experiential knowledge from participatory music-making spaces underpinned by values of trust, inclusion, and raising participant voices (Bartleet & Higgins, 2018;Higgins & Shehan Campbell, 2010;Welch et al., 2014) can be harnessed in the research cycle of arts-based research projects.How can knowledge about music's capacity to foster empathy and enhanced understanding of human experience in intercultural community projects (Bartleet et al., 2009;Burnard et al., 2018;Howell, 2018;Li & Southcott, 2012;Southcott & Joseph, 2015) particularly in the context of migration (Balsnes, 2016;Magowan, 2019;Marsh, 2019;Phelan, 2017;Raanaas et al., 2019) inform and improve research processes and outcomes?Therefore, a scoping review which focuses specifically on the use of music as an arts-based method in the field of migrant health is necessary.The use of artistic practices as a component of research design is regularly labelled as arts-based research (ABR).Leavy (2009) defines ABR as "a set of methodological tools used by qualitative researchers across the disciplines during all phases of social research, including data collection, analysis, interpretation and representation […] arts-based practices draw on literary writing, music, performance, dance, visual art, film and other mediums" (p.ix).Research can be represented in multiple artistic forms encompassing visual arts, literary arts, and performing arts which include music, singing and dance (Leavy, 2009 pp. 2-3).
This scoping review required attention to existing evidence across diverse disciplines that are not typically studied together: ABR, music, migrants, and health.This is needed to facilitate learning across disciplines and identify gaps in current knowledge.This can be used as a foundation to build ethically guided, effective strategies for using music as a participatory, arts-based method in migrant health research.
The aim of this scoping review was to examine the available literature around the use of music as an arts-based research (ABR) method in migrant health research in order to extend knowledge of creative methods and tools used in participatory projects involving migrants in health research.The objectives were to:

•
Ascertain the extent of current publications using music in migrant health research and identifying itself as ABR.
• Identify the research stages (participating, generating data, analysing, interpreting, disseminating) in which music features as an ABR method or part thereof.
• Identify whether particular musical practices are used more than others as part of the research design and implementation.
• Identify the key strengths and challenges discussed in the literature around the use of music as a research tool in migrant health research.
• Identify gaps in current knowledge and use these as a foundation to build effective strategies towards increasing access to and knowledge of participatory, arts-based methods using music in migrant health research (Garry et al., 2020, p.5).
A scoping review was identified by us as the most appropriate methodology to address the broad nature of our research question and objectives.A scoping review can be used to identify and map key concepts and types of available evidence in order to provide an overview of a particular field of research (Arksey & O'Malley, 2005;Levac et al., 2010;Munn et al., 2018).(vi) Consultation.The objectives, inclusion criteria and methods for this scoping review were specified in advance and documented in a published protocol (Garry et al., 2020) which can be accessed online at: https://doi.org/10.12688/hrbopenres.13121.1.This review is reported in line with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines (Garry et al., 2023).

Identifying the research question
The research question guiding this scoping review is: "What is known about music as an arts-based method in migrant health research?"The identification of the research question involved an iterative process of searching and revising our key search terms with the aim of capturing the most pertinent literature relevant to our research goal.We collectively identified four core concepts encompassing the interdisciplinary focus of this scoping review.These are: ABR, music, migrants, and health.We specifically explored how music is utilised as an ABR method in the context of migrant health and wellbeing (Garry et al., 2020).
Identifying relevant studies Eligibility criteria.All studies such as journal articles, books, book chapters and grey literature that integrated music in the research design or implementation, and self-identified as arts-based research, or incorporated music-making with migrant people(s); and physical, mental or social wellbeing were eligible for inclusion.Publications had to be in the English, and published between 2009 and 2020.The publication of Leavy's definition of arts-based research in 2009 was the basis of our review (Leavy, 2009).All members of the research team contributed to discussions regarding eligibility criteria at the commencement of the scoping review (Garry et al., 2020).

Search strategy.
The terminology used in our search strategy was developed in order to identify the most appropriate body of literature in line with our research question and objectives (Arksey & O'Malley, 2005).The design of our search strategy involved interdisciplinary knowledge sharing and joint decision-making by the research team around the definitions, concepts, and terminology involved (Levac et al., 2010).In order to test the suitability of search terms, preliminary searches were conducted in Taylor & Francis Online and CINAHL, searching article titles, abstracts, keywords and subject headings relating to our four key concepts: ABR, music, migrants and health.Our search strategy was further developed in collaboration with a senior faculty librarian.Our final search strategy included a comprehensive set of keywords (see Table 1: Key  (Garry et al., 2020).

Study selection
Following completion of the search, two reviewers independently screened the studies by title and abstract (authors, 1 and 3) followed by full-text reviews guided by our inclusion and exclusion criteria.Any uncertainties or disagreements regarding inclusion or exclusion of sources were resolved by a third reviewer (author 5).Eligible studies were managed using Mendeley reference manager.
Charting the data Data were extracted using an MS Excel spreadsheet.Charting elements and complementary questions included JBI recommended classifications such as publication details, and general study details such as aims/purpose, methodological design, study population, methods and methodological design (Peters et al., 2020).Additional categories, specific to our review, were used to guide the data extraction process.These included: definitions of ABR, forms of music, stages of the research where music was employed, details of migrant groups, research settings, study teams, ethical issues, health focus, evaluation of music, and limitations/quality issues.These additional charting elements supported the iterative process of collating, summarising, and reporting the results in line with our key question and objectives (Garry et al., 2020).One reviewer completed the data charting process, which was fully verified by a second reviewer (authors 1 and 5).

Collating, summarising and reporting the results
As recommended by the JBI Reviewer's Manual (Peters et al., 2020), a narrative summary mapping the findings from the extracted data complements the charted results and is presented here in line with our key question and objectives.We engaged in qualitative thematic construction (Elo & Kyngas, 2008;Levac et al., 2010) through a process of identifying and grouping similar qualitatively described (Sandelowski, 2000) charted information to provide an overview of the literature in line with the purpose of the review.Findings were organised into thematic categories such as aims/purpose, methodological design, key findings about ABR, music, migrants and health, and gaps in the literature.Our analysis considered the meaning of the results in relation to our research question and objectives, and the broader implications of the findings in terms of future research and practice in the field (Garry et al., 2020).The research cluster includes partners from an independent non-governmental organisation, Doras, working to promote and protect the rights of migrants through direct support, advocacy, and integration support.Through a series of research cluster meetings, NGO partners were involved in the design of the scoping review and provided feedback on the analysis and interpretation of the identified literature.They were invited to discuss preliminary findings with the aim of informing ideas about future research (Levac et al., 2010).

Search results
The initial literature search yielded 153 results which were exported to Mendeley reference manager.Following the removal of duplicates, 141 articles were screened by title and abstract, and full text where necessary.105 records were excluded.36 publications, including journal articles, reports, books and book chapters were read in full.Of these, 14 met the inclusion criteria (see Figure 1 and Table 2).No additional relevant publications were identified through checking the reference lists of included papers.

Summary of findings
Objective 1: The extent of current publications using music in migrant health research and identifying itself as ABR The fourteen publications identified in our review were written by a total of twenty-five authors, with a number of authors featuring in several publications.Lennette appears in five (Blomfield & Lenette, 2018;Blomfield & Lenette, 2019;Lenette, 2019;Lenette et al., 2019;Sunderland et al., 2015) Nunn in three (Nunn, 2016;Nunn, 2017;Nunn, 2018); and Bagley & Castro-Salazar in two (Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2012;Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2019).While some of the publications are single authored pieces (Hudson, 2016;Lenette, 2019;Nunn, 2016;Nunn, 2017;Nunn, 2018), all of the studies report on collaborative and/or participatory arts-based research projects with multidisciplinary (Hiltunen et al., 2020) and interdisciplinary (Harkins et al., 2016;Sunderland et al., 2015) teams.These include academics in collaboration with artists and participants from a variety of disciplinary and artistic backgrounds.In some cases, these roles are blended in the form of an artist-scholar (Millar & Warwick, 2019;Sunderland et al., 2015).Other studies were co-authored by artists and academics (Blomfield & Lenette, 2018;Blomfield & Lenette, 2019;Lenette et al., 2019) or between academics working in collaboration with artists from the specific migrant community in the study (Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2012;Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2019;Nunn, 2017).Several of the studies were in partnership with art galleries, multicultural centres or other community-based organisations (Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2012;Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2019;Harkins et al., 2016;Hiltunen et al., 2020;Hudson, 2016;Lenette, 2019;Nunn, 2016;Nunn, 2017;Nunn, 2018).Disciplines included music, humanities, health and human services (Sunderland et al., 2015), public health research and policy, and evaluation of the impact of community-based programmes (Harkins et al., 2016)   Australian resettlement context and note the importance of contributing "gender-specific and strengths-based perspectives to the literature on impacts of community-based arts initiatives" (p.757).Lenette notes that studies on health from a biomedical perspective are prolific in refugee research due to the many trauma related issues people face in the context of forced migration.She cautions that a disproportionate focus on these issues has often overshadowed the equally-important need to understand "sociocultural, 'bottom-up' perspectives, and the intersectionality of issues linked to wellbeing" (Lenette, 2019, p.7).
Objective 2: The research stages (participating, generating data, interpreting, disseminating) in which music features as an ABR method or part thereof We extracted information about the musical elements and the role of music for data generation, interpretation and analysis from the research process descriptions in the papers.
Participation.The most significant role played by music as an arts-based method in all the studies is as a tool of participation, supporting sustained recruitment, and active creative and dialogic engagement in the research process.Sunderland et al., 2015).Collaboratively written lyrics constitute an important source of data and a means to represent lived experience (Lenette, 2019;Nunn, 2018).Well known pop songs can take on new meanings in the context of forced displacement, thereby communicating important messages relating to issues of social justice and the plight of detained refugee and asylum seeker people (Lenette, 2019).The opportunity to sing in a first or familiar language helps people to articulate feelings of pride in their heritage, while also expressing new and shared identities (Sunderland et al., 2015).Participant-observation is recognised as a key form of data generation where music facilitators/researchers immersed in the field can access knowledge by co-participating at the site of engagement, and sharing insights from practice (Millar & Warwick, 2019;Nunn, 2018).This is particularly insightful where community musicians can gain access to spaces, such as asylum seeker detention centres, sometimes inaccessible to researchers (Lenette, 2019).
Interpretation.The role of music as a tool for data interpretation is not widely discussed in the literature.Nunn (2017) notes that there were some gaps in understanding regarding the artistic representations of interview data, including karaoke, in "Translations-Generations".She argues that non-literal research representations challenge audience members to interpret the work.While this is one of the benefits of artistic representations, it does "provoke consideration of the potential for arts-based representations to be as exclusionary as academic ones" (p.13).Bagley & Castro-Salazar (2012) mention that the artists, including a musician, were given a free hand to interpret the interview data.Blomfield & Lenette (2019) explain the intent behind the use of instrumental background music in their documentary film project.Its purpose is to foreground the verbal narrative of the young female asylum seeker.

Dissemination.
In the studies focusing exclusively on music, the performance of songs and instrumental music are the most common forms of dissemination.The Scattered People (Lenette, 2019;Sunderland et al., 2015) disseminate their music, and their political messages, through performance and recordings.Lenette (2019) notes that "singing is one of the most effective ways of disseminating such [political] messages to wide audiences" (p.184).In Sunderland et al. ( 2015) "[P]articipants felt that their music gatherings and performances had the potential to improve understandings of refugee experiences, and hopefully lead to more acceptance".(p.10).Harkins et al. (2016) provide a link to the documentary film made by the young people, and this enables the reader/viewer to experience the children's orchestral programme first-hand.Background music is used in film (Blomfield & Lenette, 2019;Nunn, 2016), and as pre-performance music at a live multi-arts event that included research-based post-performance karaoke for audience members (Nunn, 2017).Other multi-arts events drew on music, spoken word, photography, installation, painting and digital media "reflecting the complexities of refugee lives" (Nunn, 2018, p.32).
Objective 3: Identify whether particular musical practices are used more than others as part of the research design and implementation Only three studies focus exclusively on music (Harkins et al., 2016;Millar & Warwick, 2019;Sunderland et al., 2015).Lenette (2019) includes a chapter on community music, focusing mainly on the Brisbane-based Scattered People music initiative.Lenette et al. (2019) and Nunn (2017); Nunn (2018) discuss music alongside other art forms.In the remaining studies, the role of music is less prominent, or is unclear.Singing is the most highly reported musical activity (Harkins et al., 2016;Lenette, 2019;Lenette et al., 2019;Millar & Warwick, 2019;Nunn, 2017;Nunn, 2018;Sunderland et al., 2015), followed by songwriting (Lenette, 2019;Lenette et al., 2019;Millar & Warwick, 2019;Nunn, 2018;Sunderland et al., 2015) (para. 23).They also mention "belonging through music" (para.22) as one of several film themes in the filmmaking workshops, and "sound and video poems" (para.25) as artistic outputs from creative writing workshops.However, there is no further elaboration on these examples.In one study, singing and dancing were not included in the research design but emerged spontaneously in a participant-led project with a group of South Sudanese Dinka women in Australia.The knowledge generated through the shared musical engagement was then incorporated into the research (Lenette et al., 2019).
Objective 4: Identify the key strengths and challenges discussed in the literature around the use of music as a research tool in migrant health research While strengths, challenges and ethical considerations were not always explicitly named as such by the authors, the following points can be extrapolated based on their project descriptions.
Strengths.Lenette (2019)  Challenges.Nunn (2018) refers to inherent risks in participatory arts projects in general.In the "Dispersed Belongings" project, not all experiences of the research presentation events were positive.Some people were nervous about performing, while one Syrian woman and her family experienced criticism over her involvement in the performance.In addition, she lost trust in the research project team as they could not prevent Syrian audience members from videoing the performance (p.36).Nunn (2017) explains that the inclusion of non-text based artworks and the use of the Vietnamese language designed to make the work more accessible to non-English speaking first generation Vietnamese Australians "was not as successful as it might have been in facilitating an ethical and accessible mode of dissemination" (p.13) due to challenges experienced by some audience members in interpreting the artistic work.Sunderland et al. (2015) specify the small number of participants as a limitation but note that rich data emerged from the collaboration, suggesting that future research could draw comparisons to studies with marginalised groups who are not engaged in musical activities.Similarly, Harkins et al. (2016) suggest that, while qualitative methods suited the study focus, the lack of a validated wellbeing measurement framework limits the potential for comparison with other studies.
Ethical considerations.There were no specific ethical issues related to any one art form, with the exception of awareness of the editing process as a political act in filmmaking (Blomfield & Lenette, 2018).Lenette (2019) draws attention to ethical issues such as "reciprocity, power differentials, and assumptions of 'vulnerability' and 'anonymity'" (p.86).While she emphasises the importance of using a trauma-informed approach which is sensitive to participants' past circumstances, she argues that "the determination of 'vulnerability' should be contextual and project-specific" (p.91).Two studies note the importance of incorporating a flexible ethical framework "to avoid latent harm within the research process" (Millar & Warwick, 2019, p.72), and as a means to "engage refugee participants in meaningful ways" (Sunderland et al., 2015, p.6).Other ethical considerations relate to decisions around the use of photography (Hiltunen et al., 2020), valuing diverse experience and knowledge (Lenette et al., 2019), and adopting ethical guidelines specifically relevant to indigenous communities (Hudson, 2016).Blomfield & Lenette (2018) focus exclusively on the ethical considerations for artists engaging in collaborative work with refugees and asylum seekers.While ABR researchers advocate for the role of art in creating counter-narratives and challenging negative perceptions of migrants, they caution against any simplistically positive depiction of art and artists in the ABR process, noting that artists are not immune to the perpetuation of detrimental tropes around the people their work attempts to 'represent' (Blomfield & Lenette, 2018).

Discussion
The purpose of this scoping review was to ascertain what is known about the use of music as an arts-based method in migrant health research.In doing so, our goal was to advance knowledge regarding the use of creative methods and tools supporting migrant participation in meaningful partnerships in health research.
The findings demonstrate a concentration of publications in journals related to methodology, education, health and culture, but not with a specialist focus on music.Rather than providing a specific definition of ABR, authors most often described an arts-based approach, based on their own previous work or other published studies.ABR is evident across all stages of the research cycle.Music as ABR facilitated recruitment, active participation in data generation, and dissemination.
While this review builds on the work of several publications and reviews regarding ABR and health (Boydell et al., 2012;Boydell et al., 2016;Coemans & Hannes, 2017;Fraser & al Sayah, 2011) we found that the literature on the specifics of using music in migrant health and wellbeing research and identifying itself as ABR is modest.Yet it is highly informative in terms of current practices, strengths and challenges as well as about the importance of researcher reflexivity.The 14 identified references are concentrated on populations of asylum seekers, refugees, resettled immigrants, and undocumented migrants.This reflects the broad pattern in the field of migrant health research: these groups are heavily researched due to their complex physical and psychological health needs (Sweileh et al., 2018).Like many studies in the field, the authors did not provide a source reference to define the migrant population that they were working with (Hannigan et al., 2016).Authors did provide detailed descriptions of the participants in their studies and this may be because of the specific situated, contextual focus of ABR and its attention to bringing individual stories, histories, and contexts to the fore (Leavy, 2009).
The studies provide important insights into how music is being used in ABR in the context of lived experiences of migration.Music is primarily used as a means to co-produce and communicate the embodied knowledge of participants' lived experiences of migration through singing, songwriting, participatory music-making, background music in film, mixed media, and multi-arts events.The findings reveal several positive outcomes around using music in ABR in migrant health including the ability of music to communicate non-verbally; to contribute to a sense of comfort; to both maintain and expand cultural knowledge and traditions; to provide an escape from difficult realities and contribute to psychological healing; and to enhance emotional expressivity, self-identity and social relationships.The findings point to both the ways in which music and singing can be used to create supportive participatory spaces for research and the importance of skilled facilitation to hold space safely and effectively as the embodied knowledge and emotional expressions come to the fore.
While there are some challenges and ethical issues with ABR identified in this review, overall the literature points to strengths that are characteristic of music in intercultural community projects in terms of social bonding and positive personal and community outcomes (Balsnes, 2016;Howell, 2018;Marsh, 2019;Phelan, 2017;Raanaas et al., 2019).The documented strengths of ABR using music resonate with the published literature about how singing, in particular, can help to foster participation, social connection and a sense of community (Ahlquist, 2006;Balsnes, 2016;Bithell, 2014;Pearce et al., 2015;Phelan, 2017).

Limitations
We acknowledge the relatively small number of results in this review, which points to a lack of research in this area.This presents challenges in terms of making comparisons with other research and research methodologies in the field.We have been monitoring new publications since 2020 and there are few (Nunn, 2022;Wells et al., 2020(first published online in Dec. 2020)).These studies wholly reflect the findings and analysis presented here.This low level of publications in the three years is reflective of the field and our findings.Studies were confined to the English language and limited to publication dates between 2009 and 2020.Publications about music projects that may align with the concept of ABR but do not self-identify as ABR have not been included.

Recommendations for future research
There is evidence that there is a positive impact of music as ABR in migrant health research.However, the identified limitations and gaps in these publications form the basis of our four key recommendations: (1) Increased detail on the musical element in ABR In order to fully assess the value of music as ABR, it is necessary to have detailed information on the musical element itself.Additional detail concerning musical decision making processes, repertoire, musical forces, and examples of lyrics, as well as a discussion on the creative process of selecting, composing, rehearsing and performing would help shed light on the dynamics of musical practice in the context of migrant health research.
(2) Explicit identification of research as ABR While our focus was on music as an arts-based research method, our search did not yield any publications in music-specific journals.Even a cursory examination of publications related to participatory music practices with migrants in both clinical and community settings show significant evidence of research which broadly fits Leavy's (2009) definition of ABR quoted earlier, as the use of any art form at any point in the research process.Lenette (2019) specifically identifies community music, for example, as a form of ABR.Nonetheless, many of these musical practices and publications do not themselves use the terminology of ABR.
While it would be easy to dismiss this as a point of nomenclature, it presents significant issues of access for interdisciplinary researchers who may easily miss such publications, if they cannot identify them through a keyword search that includes arts-based research/ABR.Where ABR is used, its explicit identification will facilitate the inclusion of ABR publications which focus on music with other, more visible ABR publications in film, theatre, creative writing and photography.
(3) Greater recognition of a multi-arts understanding of music in the context of ABR While our search focused on music as an arts-based research method, the results yielded mostly multi-arts projects within which music was one of several artistic practices.
In participatory, multi-arts experiences, it is recognised that artistic practices rarely exist in isolation.Understanding music within a wider multi-arts context allows for a holistic engagement with not only the sonic dimensions of experience, but also the gestural, tactile, poetic and visual.This whole person engagement supports migrant health research that is sensitised to the need for anti-oppressive research methods in contexts such as post-conflict trauma.
(4) Harnessing the participatory potential of ABR using music and singing across the research cycle to increase migrant involvement in health research The identified studies demonstrate that music in ABR is most common for recruitment and engagement but that it can be used in all aspects of the research cycle.Music was evident in data generation, interpretation and dissemination.Thus ABR using music and singing has a role to play in increasing migrant participation in health research and encouraging researchers to think more creatively about the tools and material practices (Kothari, 2001) that they use in and for the co-design of participatory migrant health research projects.

Conclusion
Arts-based research using music shows promise for capturing the complexity of migrants' lives and health issues in an ethical way.Thus, the findings of this review support the idea that the benefits of music and singing in intercultural projects may be harnessed for migrant health research.Further, ABR using music and singing has specific sensory features that may offer advantages over other methods for involving migrants in health research, and thus warrant further investigation in empirical studies about its processes and impacts in multiple clinical and community settings and with a variety of migrant groups.Building on the previous point, while the spatial settings for art-based research are briefly mentioned in the scoping review (in "Summary of findings, Objective 1"), I consider useful paying more attention to where music takes place as an important element that influences the dynamics enabling and shaping music experiences and their associations with health and well-being.That is, it matters if a music group or arts-based research takes place in a detention or reception centre, in a community space or in a public park or square, as all these spaces materialise and shape the possibilities, benefits and challenges surrounding the potentialities of music-based foci and practices in research and health Finally, a focus on musicking beside and beyond music as an arts-based methodology can also contribute to critically interrogate some of the associations between practices of research dissemination through music as forms of empowerment, and/or ways of social and public participation (as briefly mentioned in the "Challenges" section of the scoping review).Pistrick's (2020) work showed how music-making in the context of a refugee reception camp in Germany was seen as relevant by social workers only when relating to a "desire" to participate in society (e.g., through or in preparation for public performances), while more leisurely and unstructured musicking in informal, everyday spaces could be perceived as irrelevant or "disturbing noise".Linking the insights from some of the publications included in the scoping review to these points, it is fundamental to acknowledge how understandings of public music performances as engagement "pinnacles" of arts-based research might not always align with the experiences, meanings, and concerns of participants with (forced) migration background (see also De Reviewer Expertise: Music, leisure, physical culture, migration and forced migration, urban and cultural geographies I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard.

Extended data
Well written and easy to follow, this paper is illustrated with tables, a methodological diagram, and charts of definitions.The 14 surveyed studies are presented in brief.They represent a spectrum of populations and contexts from Somali-Australian immigrants, participants in El Sistema Scotland's Big Noise music programme for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, to indigenous youth in urban Canadian settings.
The authors note that while the exact nature or role of the musical element is not always clear, several studies rely on the participatory engagement afforded through this expressive medium.They write that the music is most significant as: "a tool of participation, supporting sustained recruitment, and active creative dialogic engagement in the research process."Findings indicate that researchers employ a variety of arts-based methods, some defined, some implied.While the studies surveyed here are modest in number, they offer rich insights into ways music is used in participant's lived experiences of immigration.The authors also offer recommendations for future research.
Are the rationale for, and objectives of, the Systematic Review clearly stated?Yes Are sufficient details of the methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?Yes

Is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate? Yes
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results presented in the review?Yes Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Reviewer Expertise: music education, community music, arts based research, learning music through play, social media and music learning, sociology I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard.
. Settings included refugee and asylum seeker detention centres(Blomfield & Lenette, 2018; Blomfield  & Lenette, 2019), indoor and outdoor community locations and people's homes(Blomfield & Lenette, 2018;Lenette, 2019; Nunn, 2016; Sunderland et al., 2015).Migrant populations.Twelve of the publications discuss arts-based research projects exclusively involving migrant people.None of the authors provided a source reference to define the migrant population that they were working with, e.g. the UNHCR definition for refugee.Participants in the studies are described as undocumented Mexican-Americans and artists of Mexican birth or heritage(Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2012;Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2019); first, 1.5, and second generation Vietnamese-Australians, including artists and their family members (Nunn, 2017); refugee-background young people, including Karen young people in Bendigo, Australia, and

Table 2 . Key study characteristics. Author(S) Year Country Methodological Design Aims/Purpose Study Population and Sample Size Health Focus
(Harkins et al., 2016;)an young people in Gateshead, UK(Nunn, 2018); a young Somali asylum seeker woman(Blomfield & Lenette, 2018; Blomfield & Lenette, 2019); Somali-Australians, aged 13-18, described as the first generation of young people growing up in a Somali-Australian immigrant community(Nunn, 2016); Indigenous young adults in the context of migration from the reserve to the urban environment in Canada(Hudson, 2016); a group of South Sudanese Dinka women, mainly mothers and daughters, who had been living in Australia for 10-15 years(Lenette et al., 2019); refugee and asylum seeker members of the Brisbane-based Scattered People music initiative, including two Iranian women, a Kurdish male and female married couple, and one Sri Lankan male, aged between 24 and 50 years of age(Sunderland et al., 2015); and Yazidi young people, aged 11-18, from Iraq and Syria living in a camp in northern Greece(Millar & Warwick, 2019).Lenette's (2019) book discusses multiple groups and refers, throughout, to "people with lived experiences of forced migration as Knowledge Holders" (p.12).The remaining two studies describe participants as recently arrived migrants and long-term residents(Hiltunen et al., 2020), and participants in El Sistema Scotland's Big Noise music programme for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, including "migrant and minority ethnic children"(Harkins et al., 2016, p.33). of negative and positive wellbeing from the perspectives of the participants.Studies focusing explicitly on music, health and wellbeing show that lived experiences of health and wellbeing are context specific and dependent on multiple factors(Harkins et al., 2016; Millar & Warwick, 2019; Lenette et al. (2019)zar, 2012;Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2019)the USA"(p.242)n=6wereinterviewed.Additional artists/performers represented the interviewees' stories through performance.Total number of participants not specified."[To]reflectonthemethodologicalissuesraisedbyqualitativeresearchaddressing the ways in which critical arts-based research affects research participants as artists, subjects and audience" (p.945)Mexican-Americans: Audience members (n=20),"undocumented Mexican-Americans on whose narratives the performance was based" (p.948) (n=4), artists involved in the production (n=3, 1 painter, 1 choreographer, 1 poet) All the "artists were of Mexican birth or heritage" (p.948).Total: n=27 arts-based research.While all studies self-identified as ABR, most of the publications assume an implicit understanding of ABR, focusing more on why one might use this approach rather than how it is defined.Lenette (2019) describes an ABR approach as "the use of any art form at any point in the research process, to generate, interpret, or communicate new knowledge" (p.27).She refers toMcNiff (2008)to provide a definition of arts-based research as: "[The] systematic use of the artistic process, the actual making of artistic expressions in all of the different forms of the arts, as a primary way of understanding and examining experience by both researchers and the people that they involve in their studies" (Health context.Our review did not yield any findings of music in ABR for migrant health research which had explicit clinical aims, or which took place primarily in a clinical setting.Nonetheless all 14 studies reflected socio-cultural aspects of health and wellbeing, and highlight the complexity and multi-dimensionality Two studies focus on social justice issues associated with undocumented status in U.S., such as exclusion from health and other services(Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2012;Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2019).Nunn (2018) explores how young people negotiate resettlement, and notes the importance of generating and communicating understandings of those experiences through arts-based research in order to develop support networks in response.Lenette et al. (2019)focus on the experiences of women from South Sudanese backgrounds in an notes that ABR "integrates artistic practice with research processes as a crucial way to understand lived experiences" (p.27), and challenges "dominant research models that may fail to create culturally safe research spaces" (p.31).She highlights a number of positives that emerge from ABR into musical engagement in the context of refugee and asylum seeker experiences of detention in Australia.These include music's capacity to reveal knowledge related to health and wellbeing; to provide a sense of comfort and security; to help maintain cultural songs and practices; and to connect people from different cultures with each other and the wider community.Music has the capacity to provide an escape from daily realities, and can help to alleviate "stress, loneliness, uncertainty and hopelessness" (p.195).
Garry, Fran; MacFarlane, Anne; Murphy Tighe, Sylvia; Punch,  Pattie; Phelan, Helen (2023).Underlying Data for 'A Scoping Review of the Use of Music as an Arts-Based Method in Migrant Health Research'.University of Limerick.Dataset.The scoping review offered a justification for its specific scope on music and arts-based methods in relation to migration and health, and overall offered a useful overview of how music and artsbased methods have been used in research projects with people with (forced) migration backgrounds and in relation to health research.The clear assessment of key themes, trends, methodological engagement with music, as well as strengths, challenges and ethical considerations makes this scoping review a useful resource for academics, practitioners and policy-makers working at the intersection of migration, arts-based research, and health.Research conducted in already-existing and often community-based musical spaces created by people with (forced) migration backgrounds have highlighted how music can constitute a register of experience that can highlight insights, experiences and forms of knowledge relating, but not limited to health and well-being among diverse (forced) migrant (Garry et al., 2023)4961/researchrepository-ul.24201423.v2(Garryetal., 2023).The first point relates to the relevance of considering music beside the establishment of artsbased research-design and interventions by researchers.That is, I invite the authors to consider in further research the relevance of music not only within the remit of ad-hoc, time-limited, arts-based research intervention.

Are the rationale for, and objectives of, the Systematic Review clearly stated? Yes Are sufficient details of the methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others? Yes Is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate? Not applicable Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results presented in the review? Yes
Martini Ugolotti N, 2022 [Ref 1]).Overall, as a researcher who conducted studies in relation to music and (forced) migration, I commend the authors' synthesis of key themes and challenges in relation to the specific scope of this review.Concurrently, I also invite the authors to consider and engage with musical spaces and domains that exist beside and beyond those initiated by researchers, as sites that can "generate, interpret, or communicate new knowledge" (Lenette C, 2019, [Ref 2] p. 27) on the nexus between diverse (forced) migration experiences and trajectories, health, and wellbeing across different national, political, and social contexts.2. Lenette C: Arts-Based Methods in Refugee Research.2019.Publisher Full Text 3. Pistrick E: Dangerous fields: Existentiality, humanity and musical creativity in German refugee camps.Violence: An International Journal.2020; 1 (2): 332-353 Publisher Full Text 4. Western T: Listening with Displacement.Migration and Society.2020; 3 (1): 194-309 Publisher Full Text 5. Wilcock C: In the groove and in the moment: epistemology and ethics in ethnography with Sudanese musician revolutionaries.Qualitative Research.2023; 23 (3): 746-763 Publisher Full Text Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.