Nina Wollersberger Profile
Nina Wollersberger
Vice Chancellor’s PhD scholar
“Anybody can use music…they feel empowered and comfortable using it on their own.”
Nina Wollersberger joined the CIMTR team in September 2019 as a music interventionist and PhD researcher as part of the Vice Chancellor PhD Studentship at Anglia Ruskin University. She has also recently taken up the role of part-time research administrator for up to six hours a week for the research institute.
When discussing Nina’s role as a music interventionist she emphasised the importance of being a consultant to the caregivers who are being trained to carry out a music intervention with their family member who has dementia. Nina is able to utilise the skills she has as a music therapist to provide the caregiver with support and give them confidence in knowing they and their family member can greatly benefit from music. A lovely aspect of the role is the peer training that Nina underwent prior to delivering the interventions. She has met with her other colleagues in the UK, as well as interventionists from all five countries who are involved in the study. This is a unique element to the study, and provides the interventionists with the opportunity to learn from each other’s different cultural practices to further develop the way in which they deliver the interventions. As commented on by Nina “the international aspect really interested me, how the different cultures will impact the study and different ways of practicing in the countries.”
Nina’s role as administrator of CIMTR has included her involvement with literature searches, helping out with the Research Excellence Framework and co-ordinating the CIMTR newsletter. She is currently also involved in the recruitment process for the study, having recently put together a recruitment video, and spending time promoting the study to all who may be interested in taking part.
Nina is completing her PhD as part of the Vice Chancellor PhD Studentship at Anglia Ruskin University with the prospective thesis title of: Exploring the impact of an indirect music therapy intervention on the quality of life of caregivers of people living with dementia in the community. Directly linking to the Homeside study, she wanted to focus on how music therapists can better support the wellbeing of caregivers. She worked with her supervisory team, including first supervisor Prof Helen Odell-Miller, second supervisor Dr Jonathan Pool and third supervisor Dr Ming-Hung Hsu, to develop her framework and ideas. A mixed methods study, Nina will use data gathered in the study, to focus on a secondary outcome measure; quality of life. Through comparing quantitative outcome measures with qualitative data, she hopes to validate her findings. The qualitative data she is going to use includes; interviews of participants carried out after the music intervention period, notes from interventionists and diaries completed by each dyad.
Nina trained as a music therapist at Queen Margaret University, qualifying in 2017. She has had family experiences that led to her being interested in how music therapy helped engage somebody with dementia. Prior to joining Homeside she worked with older adults during her training and with NHS Lothian after she qualified, primarily in older adult mental health and dementia-specific hospital wards. Nina has also worked internationally, spending a year as a music therapist in India with a charity who support children and adolescents living in shelter homes. Nina had an interest in research throughout her training, completing a research methods module, and thoroughly enjoying her dissertation, which explored music therapy for people experiencing trauma as a result of the Second World War, with a focus on transgenerational trauma.
When interviewing Nina about her role and career, she addressed the importance of collaborating with other disciplines in order to develop the thinking in music therapy research. There are many different approaches to practicing as a music therapist. As acknowledged by Nina, working together and having relevant discussions with partnering and different organisations is vital for the future of music therapy practice within the wider allied health and care professions.