How adults with chronic health conditions made self-administered music interventions (SAMIs) work: thematic synthesis...

By nature, a chronic illness creates lasting repercussions on a person's life. Although existing literature has shown the benefits of music therapy for many chronic health conditions, there are times when music therapy services become unavailable. In these situations, self-administered music interventions (SAMIs) can be an effective strategy to promote psychological wellbeing in people with chronic illnesses. We conducted a mixed-studies systematic review of the evidence for SAMIs and have previously published a meta-analysis and synthesis of quantitative results. This article presents qualitative synthesis findings on: (1) factors that influence SAMI implementation, (2) how and why do SAMIs have or not have an effect, and (3) recommendations for practice implications.

We systematically searched seven databases from January 1990 to June 2025. Citation tracking and reference checks were applied. We used the CASP qualitative checklist for quality assessment of studies with qualitative data.

Qualitative results from 11 articles were included in thematic synthesis. Five themes emerged: (a) participants' personal qualities informed their SAMI implementation and outcomes, (b) participants made SAMIs work, (c) SAMI outcomes became feedback, (d) a facilitator supported SAMI uses, and (e) a propelling cycle of SAMI implementation (overarching theme).

Our results illustrated how participants independently made SAMIs work over time and what factors were involved. Recommendations for research and practice are provided.