Important new research about to start in Medway by researchers at the University will assess the benefits of regular group singing for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Academics from the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences (SSES) will work with Canterbury Christ Church University’s Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health and Medway Community Healthcare Respiratory Team on the project and are seeking local residents to take part.
According to the British Lung Foundation, COPD is the second most common lung disease in the UK, after asthma affecting an estimated 1.2 million people, around 2% of the whole population. Together with lung cancer and pneumonia, COPD is one of the three leading contributors to respiratory mortality. COPD is also a major cause of unplanned emergency admissions to hospital at considerable cost to the NHS.
Dr John Dickinson, Head of the Exercise Respiratory Clinic in SSES, said: ‘Our collaboration with CCCU and Medway Community Healthcare provides a unique opportunity to use cutting edge scientific techniques to investigate the impact of singing on COPD lung function, physical capacity and breathing pattern.’
The Medway study will be a randomised controlled trial, and the research team is looking for 100 participants, half of whom would join a weekly singing group meeting weekly for ten weeks and half would be a ‘control group’ who do not sing. After the project finishes, members of the group who did not sing will be offered the opportunity to follow the same singing programme.
The Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health and the University of Kent have previously collaborated on a study looking at the impact of singing on a group of people with COPD in Lambeth and Southwark, South London. Their findings showed that showed that regular singing helped to improve the participant’s social and psychological wellbeing, as well helped to modify breathing patterns and reduce breathlessness.
Chris Gedge, Head of Research for Medway Community Healthcare said: ‘We will be doing everything we can to encourage patients with COPD in our care across Medway to take advantage of this opportunity to assess the possible benefits of singing for breathing difficulties.’
People with COPD in Medway, interested to take part, can obtain further details from Di White, Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health 07515 191 712 or email: sdhcentre@canterbury.ac.uk.