Heartbeat: Patients hit the right note

December 21, 2018

Respiratory patients were full of Christmas joy when they took part in their first ‘singing for breathing’ session.

The group went along to the meeting, which was organised by our community respiratory team, to help improve their lung health.

The 45-minute session, at the Vantage Point, in West Bromwich, was led by Louise Blackburn, who is a singing for breathing practitioner and has been trained by the British Lung Foundation.

The group sang Jingle Bells and While Shepherds Watched.

Louise said: “I find that people with lung conditions benefit greatly from these sessions. The magic of singing for breathing is that it is not only good physically and socially, but also a huge benefit for those patients with lung conditions.”

Teresa Brigden is a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who attended the session. She said: “This has been brilliant. It’s the first time that I have sang in public, I normally just sing at home behind closed doors.

“But I felt very comfortable in the session today and really enjoyed it. I will definitely be coming again as I feel it’s benefited my condition too.”

The sessions start with a warm-up to prepare the patient’s body for activity. This includes physical warm-ups, breathing and vocal exercises, such as rhythm and pitch games. They then go on to sing around two to three songs.

Alice Harvey, Respiratory Clinician, added: “It was a fantastic first session. The patients really enjoyed singing Christmas songs after some fun warm-up exercises.

“You can see straight away how it benefits their health, but also how it helps socially too. An added benefit is that our staff have really enjoyed taking part, learning new techniques to support patients in managing their breathlessness, and helping our own wellbeing also.

“We have part-funded the sessions by using our Your Trust Charity funding. It means that patients are able to enjoy this great benefit to their health and wellbeing.”

A growing body of research suggests that group singing is especially good for people living with a long-term lung condition. It can improve health-related quality of life, be a fun group activity to reduce social isolation and loneliness, help improve posture and increase the strength of a person’s voice.

People with COPD who join singing groups say that singing regularly reduces their feelings of being short of breath, helps them to feel more in control of their breathing and helps them to manage their symptoms better.

The singing for breathing group will start a new term in January 2019. The group will meet at 11.30am each Monday in term time. Sessions are £2 per person, and anyone who struggles with breathlessness is welcome. Please contact the Community Respiratory Service if you would like further information on 0121 507 2664 (option 4, option 1).