People living with aphasia could benefit from new singing sessions designed to improve their mental wellbeing and quality of life. The singing sessions will be developed by Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS), the country’s largest charity working to help people with chest, heart and stroke conditions, in partnership with Scottish Opera.
The aim of these classes is to improve the mental wellbeing and confidence in communication of those with aphasia and alleviate respiratory issues including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Jane-Claire Judson, CEO of Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, said that the collaboration with Scottish Opera offered an opportunity to ‘unlock the therapeutic benefits of singing and songwriting to people living with aphasia’.
‘We regularly hear from the people we support that living with a communication difficulty following stroke can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness and have a negative impact on mental health. We look forward to bringing people together to experience the joy of singing with others whilst exploring the benefits of singing and song writing to their communication skills.’
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Aphasia is a communication difficulty that affects 1 in 3 stroke survivors. Although it is most common after a stroke, it can occur with other neurological conditions and brain injury. It is estimated that there are over 40,000 people in Scotland living with the condition.
People with aphasia can have difficulty using words to express themselves, and sometimes have difficulty understanding words. Some people with aphasia also have difficulties in cognition or thinking.
The collaborative session for people with the condition builds on Scottish Opera’s novel Breath Cycle project which was designed to support those with a range of conditions affecting lung health, including Long Covid. Since 2021, the online training and mentoring sessions have helped over 400 people from Scotland and across the improve their physical and mental health.
Following research and development sessions with medical educators, Scottish Opera is now working with CHSS staff and people living with aphasia to help deliver the therapeutic singing, songwriting and breath control sessions.
Jane Davidson MBE, director of outreach & education at Scottish Opera said: ‘The work that CHSS undertakes each year with hundreds of thousands of Scots has set really high standards in the positive integration of mental health and well-being initiatives with clinical intervention. As Scotland’s largest performing arts company, we feel that the values of both our organisations are beautifully aligned in this new collaboration that seeks to enhance the quality of people’s lives across the country.’