Name:Tara, Raessi

School/Affiliation:Toronto Metropolitan University

Co-Authors:Arla Good ; Alex Pachete; Gunter Kreutz; & Frank Russo

Virtual or In-person:In-person

Abstract:

Objective: To assess whether persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
experience psychosocial benefits from group singing; more specifically, to investigate if persons
with COPD experience improved self-reported and physiological markers of wellbeing from
participating in group singing. A secondary objective was to explore whether the effects of group
singing are different between persons with and without COPD. We hypothesized that group
singing would increase community connectedness, improve mood, and reduce stress. Further, we
hypothesized that persons with COPD would experience greater benefits with respect to
community connectedness, mood, and stress than persons without COPD.
Methods: 36 Individuals were recruited from an established singing group that was composed of
individuals living with COPD (n=14) and their family and friends without COPD (n=22).
Participants completed baseline measures, and reported on community connectedness and mood
measures before and after group singing. Self-reported stress and saliva samples were obtained at
baseline (pre) and after singing (post).
Results: We observed pre-post increases in community connectedness and mood in both groups.
We also observed reduced stress and cortisol in both groups. Individuals with COPD had higher
connectedness and mood at baseline compared to individuals without COPD. In addition,
individuals with COPD had lower cortisol and stress at baseline.
Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that group singing may be used to support
community connectedness, increase mood, and reduce stress in individuals with and without
COPD. Although individuals with COPD had higher wellbeing at baseline, both groups obtained
similar benefits from group singing.