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Welcome
Sing 2 Health is the home for projects led by Ruth Routledge. Ruth is an experienced and accomplished choral conductor, singer, arranger and composer and singing for health researcher, with experience of creating and implementing projects in educational, health, corporate and community settings. Ruth excels in team-building, implementing evidence-based techniques with a thorough ethical basis to improve mental and physical health, alleviate loneliness and enhance quality of life.
Her particular areas of practice are singing for mental health, singing for heart health and singing for stress. In her research Ruth has investigated the effects of group singing on high blood pressure, using group singing to address health inequalities in adults with learning difficulties and created a theoretical framework for singing for health as part of a Masters in Professional Practice (Singing for Health) with the Voice Study Centre.
Singing is proven to help physical and mental health, well-being, social integration and inclusion in our communities.
Image from The Psychology of Music, Patriot Press
What is singing for health?
Definition
Embodied, musical vocalising mediated by music and a facilitator which occurs in a one-to-one, group, cultural, social and/or public setting.
A socio-cultural activity connecting an individual to their own body and identity, other singers in a group context, and their community and cultural context in a performance context;
A spatio-temporal activity influenced by factors affecting inclusion such as access, timing etc.
(Routledge, 2024)
Singing for health is an emerging field developing out of long-standing practice and more recent research. Historically singing has been used therapeutically for lung health, mental health and healing. Now these claims are being validated by research, which demonstrates the wide range of health benefits for individuals and communities.
Singing is a holistic practice involving a complex interaction of physical, neurological, social and cultural components. It can be used to alleviate both physical and mental symptoms of ill health, which often co-exist. It is a safe and accessible activity which builds a sense of belonging and community, also heavily implicated in health outcomes. Group singing can also empower people with tools and strategies to take into their daily lives to support their own health and wellbeing, emotional regulation and co-regulation, and improve quality of life.
Singing for health is distinct from, but shares aspects with music therapy, community music practice, speech and language therapy and vocal pedagogy. Since the human body is the instrument, the focus is often on the physical act of singing in a healthy way using breathing, relaxation, physical and vocal exercises. Choice of song and type of singing are very important and may include humming, song-singing, toning (improvising on open vowels), free improvising with or without lyrics, primal sounds amongst others.
Every voice counts.
We believe that singing should be an inclusive and creative experience,
every voice counts and everyone is welcome.
Health benefits of singing
In the last twenty years there has been a burgeoning field of research demonstrating the positive effects of group singing for health and wellbeing issues including:
Lung health
Immunity in cancer patients
Cardiovascular health
High blood pressure
Long covid
Parkinson's
Dementia
Mental health issues including acute mental health crises, stress, anxiety, maternal mental health
Neurorehabilitation.
Loneliness and social isolation