Singing group helps patients with breathing difficulties
Patients with breathing difficulties, including those with chronic lung disease and asthma, are being offered the chance to improve their condition through a ‘Singing for Breathing’ group, run at Charing Cross Hospital.
The group, which is led by a professional singing coach, teaches participants how to improve their breathing and posture as well as manage feelings of breathlessness while also learning to sing popular songs. The hour-long sessions are run in blocks of 14 weeks which culminate in a public performance at the hospital – the next being on 30 June 2019.
The sessions, which are funded by Imperial Health Charity, have been running at Charing Cross for three years and during that time have helped a number of patients to manage their symptoms of breathlessness better.
Adam Lound, Lead Respiratory Physiotherapist who runs the scheme said:
“Singing for Breathing is one of the most popular therapy sessions that we run. The sessions not only give patients techniques to help manage their breathing and lung condition more effectively, they also help improve their general sense of wellbeing and reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness.”
Linda Makins, who is getting ready to take part in this cohort’s performance said:
“Singing for Breathing is the perfect marriage of therapy and fun. The breathing techniques we learn are of huge psychological benefit, reducing anxiety by boosting our self-confidence in managing our own condition. What makes Singing for Breathing special however, is the social aspect. Music has a unique way of involving people and singing together in a friendly, non-competitive way means we spend nearly as much time laughing as singing, surely the greatest tonic of all.”
The Singing for Breathing group is open to anybody treated at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust who has a chronic condition leading to breathing difficulties. For more information please contact adam.lound@nhs.net
For more information about Imperial Health Charity’s grants programme, visit www.imperialcharity.org.uk/grants
