We have conducted the world’s first randomised controlled trial on community singing with older adults showing improvements in mental wellbeing, and have recently contributed to a Cochrane Review on Singing and COPD.
The centre is exploring the benefits of participatory arts about wellness and illness. Many of our audiences have experiences of health conditions, both short term and long term, including mental health, physical injuries and learning disabilities. Our projects take place in healthcare and community environments, such as paediatrics, oncology, cardiology, palliative care, and community settings, with a special interest in festivals, participatory arts events, and prison rehabilitation centres.
We have also researched the role of art galleries and museums in promoting wellbeing; the value of drama workshops for children with communication difficulties, and the benefits of dance for older people with dementia and at risk of falls. The Centre is currently working closely with the Canterbury Cantata Trust, and collaborators internationally, to promote the value of regular singing for people with Parkinson’s.
In addition to research, the Centre has made important contributions to promoting the field of arts and health nationally and internationally through creating: the journal Arts & Health, the Oxford University Press Textbook for Creative Arts, Health and Wellbeing, the Royal Society for Public Health, Special Interest Group for Arts, Health and Wellbeing and a web Repository for Arts and Health Resources. The Centre is also leading in the creation of a new arts and health network across the Cathedrals Group of universities in the UK.
The Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health is committed to researching the potential value of applied participatory arts such as theatre, storytelling, music, singing, movement, puppetry and digital arts in the promotion of wellbeing and health of different diverse groups/individuals in mental health communities, children, and young people.
Core funding support for the Centre’s work has been generously provided by the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust, and currently by the Oak Foundation until 2020. Further funding for specific projects has come from a variety of sources, including: The National Institute for Health Research, the Dunhill Medical Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Charity, Wellcome Trust, and local NHS Trusts in Kent.
Who was Sidney de Haan?
The Centre was founded in 2005, and named in memory of Sidney De Haan, founder of the Saga group of companies. Towards the end of his life, Sidney was diagnosed with vascular dementia. His family noticed that attending concerts and music events had a positive effect on Sidney’s wellbeing, and as a result his son Roger De Haan was keen to support initiatives that explored the positive benefits of music and the arts for wellbeing. An approach to him from Grenville Hancox and Stephen Clift, led to the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust providing generous core funding for the Centre until 2012.
Our main achievements so far
The earliest systematic review of research on singing and health (2008) with subsequent updates with increased focus and sophistication (2010), a comprehensive review of the value of singing for older people (2017), and a systematic review (2016) and cochrane review on singing and copd (2017).
- Clift, S., Gilbert, R. and Vella-Burrows, T. (2017) Health and well-being benefits of singing for older people. In Sutherland, N., et al. (eds.) Music, Health and Wellbeing: Exploring music for health equity and social justice. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Lewis, A., Cave, P., Stern, M., Welch, L., Taylor, K. et al. (2016) Singing for Lung Health—a systematic review of the literature and consensus statement. npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, 26, 16080; published online 1 December 2016.
- McNamara, R.J., Epsley, C., Coren, E., McKeough. Z.J. (2017) Singing for adults with obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD012296
Findings showed that singers with prior or existing health issues were more likely to acknowledge the benefits of singing.
- Clift, S., Hancox, G., Morrison, I., Hess, B., Kreutz, G. and Stewart, D. (2009) What do singers say about the effects of choral singing on physical health? Findings from a survey of choristers in Australia, England and Germany. In J. Louhivuoiri, Eerole, T., Saarikallio, S., Himberg, T. and Eerola, P-S. (Eds.) Proceedings of the 7th Triennial Conference of European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM 2009), Jyvaskkyla, Finland.
- Clift, S., Hancox, G., Morrison, I., Hess, B., Kreutz, G. and Stewart, D. (2010) Choral singing and psychological wellbeing: Quantitative and qualitative findings from English choirs in a cross-national survey, Journal of Applied Arts and Health, 1, 1, 19-34.
- Clift, S., Morrison, I. and Hancox, G. (2012) Singing, wellbeing and gender: Findings from a survey of choristers in Australia, England and Germany, S. Harrison and G. Welch (Eds.) Perspectives on Males and Singing, Dordretch: Springer.
- Lee, P., Stewart, D. and Clift, S. (2017) Does group singing affect quality of life? Evidence from Australian choirs. In Higgins, L. et al. (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Community Music, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Livesey, L., Morrison, I., Clift, S. and Camic, P. (2012) Benefits of choral singing for social and mental wellbeing: Qualitative findings from a cross-national survey of choir members, Journal of Public Mental Health, 11, 1, 10-27.
- Coulton, S., Clift, S., Skingley, A. and Rodriguez, J. (2015) Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of community singing on mental health-related quality of life of older people: randomised controlled trial, British Journal of Psychiatry, 211, 6, 1–6.
- Skingley, A., Bungay, H., Clift, S. and Warden, J. (2014) Experiences of being a control group: lessons from a UK-based randomized controlled trial of group singing as a health promotion initiative for older people, Health Promotion International, 29, 4, 751-758.
Establishing and evaluating a network of community singing groups for participants with mental health challenges in East Kent (2009-10), with replication in West Kent and Medway (2014-16), showing positive benefits on a widely used standardised measure of mental distress.
- Clift, S. and Morrison, I. (2011) Group singing fosters mental health and wellbeing: Findings from the East Kent ‘Singing for Health’ Network Project, Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 15, 2, 88-97.
- Clift, S., Manship, S. and Stephens, L. (2017) Further evidence that singing fosters mental health and wellbeing: Findings from the West Kent and Medway project, Social Inclusion and Mental Health, 21, 1, 53-62.
Establishing and evaluating a network of community singing groups for patients with copd in East Kent (2011-12), with a replication in Lambeth and Southwark (2015-16), showing positive outcomes for personal and social wellbeing and self-management of this condition.
- Morrison, I., Clift, S., Page, S., Salisbury, I., Shipton, M., Skingley, A., Vella-Burrows, T., Coulton, S. and Treadwell, P. (2013) A UK feasibility study on the value of singing for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), UNESCO journal, 3, 3.
- Skingley, A., Page, S., Clift, S., Morrison, I., Coulton, S., Treadwell, P., Vella-Burrows, T., Salisbury, I., Shipton, M. (2014) ‘Singing for breathing’ groups for people with COPD: participants’ experiences, Arts and Health: an international journal for research, policy and practice, 6, 2, 59-74.
- Skingley, A., Clift, S., Hurley, S., Price, S. and Stephens, L. (2018) Community singing groups for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Participant perspectives. Perspectives in Public Health, 138, 1: 66-75.
The first surveys of: children singing as part of the Young Voices Programme; women singing in choirs as part of the Military Wives Choirs Foundation, and choirs participating in the 2014 National Choir of the Year Competition. These studies offer qualifications to a too easy acceptance that group singing is invariably a positive experience.
- Hinshaw, T., Clift, S. Hulbert, S. and Camic, P. (2015) Group singing and young people's psychological well-being, International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 17, 1, 46-63.
- Vella-Burrows, T. and Bamford, A. (2015) Choir of the Year Competition 2014. Canterbury: Canterbury Christ Church University.
- Clift, S., Page, S., Daykin, N. and Peasgood, E. (2016) The perceived effects of singing on the health and well-being of wives and partners of members of the British Armed Forces: a cross-sectional survey, Public Health, 138, 93-100
In 2107, in conjunction with the Canterbury Cantata Trust, an international network of partners was established to promote the development of new singing groups for people with Parkinson’s and evaluate their benefits.
Details of links with Griffiths University in Brisbane Australia
- The establishment of the Royal Society for Public Health Arts and Health Awards in 2008
- Launch of Arts & Health: an international journal for research, policy and practice in 2009
- Publication of the Oxford Textbook for Creative Arts, Health and Wellbeing
- Establishment of the Royal Society for Public Health Special Interest Group for Arts, Health and Wellbeing in 2015