Medical specialists are also turning to singing as a way of improving the quality of life of those living with different health conditions. Around the world, researchers have studied the effects of joining dedicated community choirs established for cancer and stroke survivors, people living with Parkinson’s disease and dementia, and their caregivers. For example, singing improves the ability of Parkinson’s patients to articulate, something which they are known to struggle with as the disease progresses.
Singing also represents a way of boosting general health as it has been shown to be an underrated workout comparible to a brisk walk. “Singing is a physical activity and may have some parallel benefits to exercise,” says Adam Lewis, an associate professor of respiratory physiotherapy at the University of Southampton.
One study even suggested that singing, along with various vocal exercises used by trained singers to hone pitch and rhythm, is a comparable workout for the heart and lungs to walking at a moderate pace on a treadmill.
But researchers are also keen to highlight the often under-recognised benefits of participating in group singing for the psyche of people living with long-term chronic illnesses. Street explains that singing enables these people to focus on what they can do, rather than what they cannot.
“It suddenly brings an equality into the room where the caregivers are no longer caregivers, and the healthcare practitioners are also singing the same song in the same way,” says Street. “And there isn’t really much else that does that.”
Every breath you take
Among those who have been shown to benefit most from singing are people with chronic respiratory conditions, something which has become a major research focus for Keir Philip, a clinical lecturer in respiratory medicine at Imperial College London. Philip cautions that singing will not cure people of these diseases, but it can serve as an effective holistic approach that complements conventional treatments.
“For some people, living with breathlessness can result in them changing the way they breathe, so that it becomes irregular and inefficient,” says Philip. “Some singing-based approaches help this in terms of the muscles used, the rhythm and the depth [of breathing], which can help improve symptoms.”
One of his most notable studies involved taking a breathing programme which had been developed through working with professional singers in the English National Opera and using it as part of a randomised controlled trial in long Covid patients. Over six weeks, the results showed that it improved their quality of life and alleviated some aspects of their breathing difficulties.
