Aesop Arts Health conference (c) Helen Murray, 2016
New research has found singing improves the quality of life for people living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
Researchers recruited COPD sufferers into singing groups and monitored them over a year, concluding that regular singing has a positive impact on people suffering from the respiratory illness.
The study, involving LSE researchers, reflects growing evidence that group singing is beneficial for people with chronic respiratory disease in helping to modify breathing patterns, reduce breathlessness, and improve quality of life and social and psychological wellbeing.
There are around 1.2 million people in the UK living with COPD, a progressive and incurable lung disease that predominantly increases breathlessness and long-term inflammation of the airways.
Singing for Better Breathing: Findings of the Lambeth and Southwark Singing and COPD Project was launched at an event at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre, London on 6 June.
The project team was led by the Sidney De Hann Research Centre for Arts and Health at Canterbury Christ Church University, in collaboration with Mr David McDaid and Dr A-La Park of the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and academics from the University of Kent.