Further evidence that singing fosters mental health and wellbeing: the West Kent and Medway project

Abstract

Purpose Clift and Morrison (2011) report that weekly singing over eight months for people with enduring mental health issues led to clinically important reductions in mental distress. The purpose of this paper is to test the robustness of the earlier findings. Design/methodology/approach Four community singing groups for people with mental health issues ran weekly from November 2014 to the end of 2015. Evaluation place over a six-month period using two validated questionnaires: the short Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (CORE-10) questionnaire, and the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). Findings In all, 26 participants completed baseline and follow-up questionnaires. CORE-10 scores were significantly reduced, and WEMWBS scores significantly increased. Comparisons with the earlier study found a similar pattern of improvements on CORE items that are part of the “problems” sub-scale in the full CORE questionnaire. There was also evidence from both studies of participants showing clinically important improvements in CORE-10 scores. Research limitations/implications The main limitations of the study are a small sample size and the lack of a randomised control group. Originality/value No attempts have been made previously to directly test the transferability of a singing for health model to a new geographical area and to evaluate outcomes using the same validated measure.

Identification with arts‐based groups improves mental wellbeing in adults with chronic mental health conditions

“…The other participants continued participating in the groups, providing two (22%) or three (34%) data points to the study. This rate of attrition was congruent with similar studies on community choirs in mental health contexts (Clift & Morrison, ; Clift, Manship & Stephens, ). Participants who provided only baseline data were compared to participants who provided two or three data points on baseline measures and demographics (see Table ).…”

“…The other participants continued participating in the groups, providing two (22%) or three (34%) data points to the study. This rate of attrition was congruent with similar studies on community choirs in mental health contexts (Clift & Morrison, 2011;Clift, Manship & Stephens, 2017).…”

Grupos comunitários juvenis: promoção da saúde mental e desenvolvimento de capacidades

“…The community has been recognized, in various investigations, as a privileged setting for intervention in the promotion of mental health, based on participation in artistic, recreational, sports, occupational and religious activities, which are not explicitly offered as therapeutic actions, but which are articulated as community-based initiatives. In this sense, interventions based on art are recognized as music groups (Clift, Manship, & Stephens, 2017;Hedemann & Frazier, 2016), dance, art therapy and creative expression (Ruiz-Casares, Kolyn, Sullivan, & Rousseau, 2015), writing, visual arts (Bridger, Emmanouil, & Lawthom, 2017) and traditional games in the public space (Bang, 2014b); also, occupational training activities such as training in agriculture (Shields-Zeeman, Pathare, Hipple Walters, Kapadia-Kundu, & Joag, 2016), shoe store and carpentry (Wilson, Cordier, Parsons, Vaz, & Buchanan, 2016), tribal history and jewelery making (Langdon et al, 2016), community cooking and English as a second language (Ruiz-Casares et al, 2015).…”

“…Three types of objectives were recognized in these interventions which focused on the promotion of mental health: on the one hand, some were aimed at the decrease in psychiatric symptoms, symptoms such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and distress (Clift et al, 2017;Hedemann & Frazier, 2016;Johnson et al, 2017); others addressed the construction of personal resources for individual and social empowerment (Bridger et al, 2017;Sundar et al, 2016); Finally, they focused on the construction of community skills, skills such as the consolidation/development of social networks, community participation and the recovery of public space (Bang, 2014b;Hurley et al, 2017;South et al, 2016).…”

Arts, health & wellbeing: reflections on a national seminar series and building a UK research network

“…Examples include music listening and wellbeing (Batt-Rawden, DeNora, & Ruud, 2005); community dance for health (Stickley, Paul, Crosbie, Watson, & Souter, 2015); community singing for mental health and breathing difficulties (Clift, Manship, & Stephens, 2015; Clift & Morrison, 2011; Morrison et al, 2013), visual arts for mental health recovery (Hacking, Secker, Kent, Shenton, & Spandler, 2006; Parr, 2006; Spandler, Secker, Kent, Hacking, & Shenton, 2007; Stacey & Stickley, 2010; Stickley & Duncan, 2008; Stickley et al, 2011) as well as the benefits of creative arts and music participation for people affected by dementia or Alzheimer’s and their carers (Camic, Williams, & Meeten, 2013; Hara, 2011a, 2011b; Unadkat, Camic, & Vella-Burrows, 2015). The first randomised controlled trial of community singing for a broad cross section of older people (60+) living independently has recently been completed (Coulton, Clift, Skingley, & Rodriguez, 2015; Skingley, Martin, & Clift, 2015).…”