About the NHS England Commission: Art, Drama, and Music Therapy
We’re proud to announce an exciting NHSE Commission to support and develop Art, Drama, and Music Therapy for the future. It is an ambitious and significant project made possible through the creative and collaborative partnership between the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT), the British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth) and the British Association for Music Therapy (BAMT).
Most importantly, the project includes significant engagement with the public, service users, Art, Drama, and Music Therapists, education providers and employers alike. This ensures that the work is underpinned by a wealth of experience and insight, to best serve each profession, our future trainees and crucially, our service users.
This NHSE contract is part of the wider Allied Health Professionals Professional Bodies Education Reform Commission.
Great! …but what does this mean practically?
There are three purposeful projects to this commission:
Project A – Awareness: Raising the profile of the professions
We want to better understand how Art, Drama, and Music Therapy are currently seen, experienced, and practiced.
This project will develop a series of resources to raise awareness and inspire. Our aim for this project is to reach future trainees, service users, commissioners, and the wider professional network, showcasing the significant impact of these therapies.
Project B – Training: Co-designing modern and inclusive curricula
We will be co-producing three contemporary curricula with members of the British Association of Art Therapists, the British Association of Dramatherapists and the British Association for Music Therapy. Learning from existing practice, we will explore the excellent work being done by all three professions currently. We will see what learning can be taken from looking across the trainings together, and agree points that would enable us to be eligible for funding/tariff.
It is important to us to make the professions more accessible to people from all communities across the UK and so this project will review; how best we can support people coming to train, the resources that can be accessed whilst training, what is currently in place to help graduates move in to the workplace and what opportunities there could be to support newly registered Art, Drama, and Music Therapists as they join the workforce.
The project will develop resources for education, educators and practice educators to ensure that there is the right support for students across the different training pathways.
Project C – Careers: Developing career frameworks for the future
We will be collaboratively developing clear career frameworks that support Art, Drama, and Music Therapists. The project will also aim to support and educate employers to better understand how skills and knowledge develop across a career within these professions.
The frameworks will be designed to enable Art, Drama, and Music Therapists to achieve their potential, in the way that fits their changing aspirations and circumstances, across the different stages of their career.
We’re very excited for this project, and hope you can feel proud of it too!
Keep up to date via our Project Updates
Head back to the NHSE Commission Project Home