Project title
Description of initiative
Plymouth Music Zone (PMZ) is an award winning music charity that believes in the power of music to reach out and help transform the lives of some of the most vulnerable children, young people and adults across Plymouth and beyond. Researchers from Exeter University ran a research programme with Plymouth Music Zone that explored the benefits of singing for people with a communication disorder associated with strokes called Aphasia. People with aphasia can struggle to speak and often make mistakes with the words they use, sometimes using the wrong sounds or putting words together incorrectly. They can also experience difficulty reading and writing. Researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School recruited volunteers in Devon and Cornwall to take part in a research trial called Singing for People with Aphasia (SPA) to determine whether group singing sessions can help reduce the impact the disorder has on people’s lives.
Further information on the initiative
Themes: Culture and...
Keywords
Target group
Cultural field
Timeframe
Sources of funding
Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt
The intervention targets the psychosocial needs of people with aphasia after a stroke, as these needs are inadequately met by existing services. This is the first randomised controlled trial of a singing group intervention for people with aphasia designed specifically to address some of these needs. The study indicated that the SPA intervention and trial processes were acceptable to people with aphasia, carers, facilitators and co-facilitator ‘singing champions’. Fidelity of intervention delivery was good, with minimal safety concerns, and costs of the intervention delivery were calculated. The study has enabled the prioritisation of outcome measures and provided sample size estimates for these, and has allowed for optimisation of the intervention and trial processes ahead of a planned definitive randomised controlled trial.