MUSICA TERAPIA PARA LA VIDA

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MUSICA TERAPIA PARA LA VIDA

Bolivia
Project Stage:
Scaling
Budget: 
$1,000 - $10,000
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

Ricardo López de la Vega is transforming the vertical relationships that currently exist between hospital staff and patients in psychiatric institutions. His approach-one based on participatory music therapy-helps patients in Bolivia build self-esteem and successfully reintegrate into their families and society.

About Project

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

In his community-based therapy model, Ricardo brings family, medical staff, patients, and former patients together in joint musical activity. By encouraging all individuals to participate as equals, Ricardo's approach touches patients in a nonthreatening way. The therapy breaks down existing vertical relationships, opens patients up to other therapies to facilitate recovery, and better prepares patients for reintegration into their families and society. The social-leveling effect of making music together is empowering for patients and builds self-esteem and hope for rejoining their communities.Ricardo's approach is low-cost, easy to implement, and easily transferred across a wide spectrum of institutionalized populations. Currently, he is implementing the model in mental health institutions and plans on expanding to other institutions including centers for drug rehabilitation and centers for the physically disabled and the elderly.