Singing for Lung Health and dementia choirs

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · UK

What it is

These are community and arts-in-health programmes, not psychotherapy and not disease treatments. SLH is a group singing activity for people with long-term lung conditions, run mainly by singing leaders who are usually not health professionals; it is an adjunct to medical respiratory care and must…

Format

• SLH programme format:
• Weekly group sessions of about 60 minutes (trials used 1-hour weekly or twice-weekly classes; one community study used 90 minutes). The BLF programme evaluated ran 12 weekly sessions funded by BLF, after which leaders were encouraged to find their own funding and groups continued.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Professional frame. Neither programme is a regulated profession. SLH leaders are typically freelance singing leaders who have done SLH training; BLF leaders went through a competitive application, interview and BLF training, and Asthma + Lung UK describes its leaders as having completed quality-assured training. In 2016 there was no accredited training programme, and competencies and standard operating procedures…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status, as the sources state it (for orientation only):

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• confusion with complex sequences. Working: people copy and smile.
• patterns too long for the group's breath. Working: confident echoing.
• frustration if it is too hard. Working: enjoyment rather than accuracy.
• pushing too hard, running out of air. Working: steady, even sound for longer.
• self-consciousness; keep it light. Working: laughter, louder and clearer voices.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.