Heterogeneity of Danish lung choirs and their singing leaders - a study of performance, experiences, and attitudes in an emerging field

Background: Lung choirs gain increasing attention as a beneficial leisure time intervention. In the UK, a standardised training program has been offered to singing leaders by the British Lung Foundation. A similar programme is not available in Denmark. This study investigates current variety of settings and approaches in Danish lung choirs.

Methods: An online survey with 25 questions was conducted (May 2017) among Danish lung choir singing leaders. Quantitative variables were counted, and inductive content analysis of the qualitative component was performed.

Results: Twenty (67%) of 33 identified singing leaders responded. The lung choirs were heterogenous concerning setting, form, content, and approach. Most singing leaders held high educational degrees in music, but lacked skills in lung diseases. The choirs were traditionally led with low levels of physical activity. However, singing leaders experienced lung choirs as a highly meaningful, and perceived that participants benefitted physically, psycho-socially, and musically. We also identified tension fields, spanning from enthusiasm concerning perceived potential of the field of “arts-and-health” and experiences of insecurity and isolation among singing leaders.

Interpretation: Danish singing leaders have little insight into disease-specific aspects of singing in lung choirs and lead the choirs without using techniques endorsed by the best documented singing leader training programme (from the UK). Nevertheless, the responding singing leaders found their activity highly meaningful.

COPD - managementPhysical activitySocial support