A community created through group singing: Examining the health benefits of engaging in a hospital community choir

Abstract

Participating in group singing can positively impact one’s physical, social, and emotional health. Limited research exists regarding the potential health benefits of hospital community choirs as social prescription, and even less on choirs comprised of various members of the hospital community [i.e., mixed staff, clients, and local community choirs]. This study explored whether a hospital community choir supports four domains of choir participants' health [physical, social, emotional, and spiritual] and investigated the possible impact of this experience on participants' perspectives of hospitals. A 10-week choir programme was facilitated by a music therapist. Employing a concurrent transformative design, surveys were distributed to the choir members and five semi-structured interviews were undertaken. Survey responses were statistically insignificant but indicated benefits across all four health domains. Interviews revealed four key themes: healing; positive experiences; social connectedness; and feeling supported. In merging these results, it was concluded that a hospital community choir can be a valuable intervention for improving multiple aspects of health in the hospital community but future larger studies are needed. This study confirms previous evidence of the potential health benefits of group singing and provides insights into the role of community choirs as social prescription in promoting health and well-being.