CHIME (Community Health Intervention through Music Engagement) is an interdisciplinary, collaborative project working to investigate how music can be used to support perinatal mental health in Africa and Australia. Mental health problems during and after pregnancy remain a serious women’s health issue with consequences not only for the affected mother, but also for her child, family and community. CHIME employs a culturally-grounded, gender sensitive approach to understand existing associations between pregnancy, motherhood, and musical practices, and to develop locally meaningful strategies to support women during the perinatal period.

CHIME Australia

This project is exploring the way CHIME can be adapted in the Australian context to support the perinatal mental health of women from migrant and refugee backgrounds. (Funded by the ANU Gender Institute)

Project Team:

ANU researchers: Bonnie McConnell, Georgia Pike, Amelia Gulliver, Lillian Smyth, Liana Leach, Mike Roettger, Junwen Chen

External Collaborators:

Charulatha Mani, University of Tasmania

Mimmie Ngum Chi Watts, Federation University

Lauren Stewart, Goldsmiths University of London

Katie Rose Sanfilippo, City, University of London

More information about CHIME Gambia:

https://www.chimeproject.com/

More information about CHIME South Africa: https://www.chimeproject.com/developing-chime-in-south-africa

Stewart, L, McConnell, B, Darboe, B et al. 2022. “Social singing, culture and health: interdisciplinary insights from the CHIME project for perinatal mental health in The Gambia.” Health Promotion International, vol. 37, Issue Supplement 1, pp. i18–i25. https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/37/Supplement_1/i18/6529447

Sanfilippo, K, McConnell, B. et al. 2020. “A community psycho-social music intervention to reduce antenatal common mental disorder symptoms in The Gambia: A feasibility study.” BMJ Open, vol. 10, no. 11. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/11/e040287

Sanfilippo, K, McConnell, B. et al. 2019. “A study protocol for testing the feasibility of a randomised stepped wedge cluster design to investigate a Community Health Intervention through Musical Engagement (CHIME) for perinatal mental health in The Gambia.” Pilot and Feasibility Studies, vol. 5, no. 124, pp. 1-8. https://pilotfeasibilitystudies.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40814-019-0515-5

View Bonnie McConnell's Researcher page.