Cultural well-being and social work: conceptual understandings and their application to music-based interventions for older people

The term ‘cultural well-being’ seems to be gaining in prominence in health and social care discourses. This paper surveys the existing use of the term in the literature base. Four concrete usage clusters are identified, largely distinct from each other. These are outlined, contrasted for commonalities and differences, and traced back to the discourses from which they originated. The applications for social work are discussed and illustrated with the particular cultural example of sound/music for older service users. This paper concludes by noting that social work can utilise the cultural well-being concept to broaden its traditional bio-psycho-social-spiritual perspectives.