​FUNCTION AND STRUCTURE OF YORUBA SONGS ON DENTAL HEALTH ​AMONG THE NURSING MOTHERS IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Music serves different purposes on different occasions. One of its functions is to educate or enlighten on health related issues. There are different studies on the use of music in health literacy. This paper, therefore, focuses on the use of Yoruba songs among the nursing mothers in pediatric ward in Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC) Ile-Ife. Interviews, participant observation, cultural history, and lyrical analysis were used for this paper. Based on health beliefs and transformative musicology theories, the paper suggests that Yoruba songs on dental health for nursing mothers are very functional as they are rooted in the socio-cultural life of the people. Yoruba songs serve as education, caution, entertainment, encouragement, and psychological therapy for the nursing mothers whose children were admitted to a pediatric observation unit at the OAUTHC