A choir of student nurses have been positively received in the community after their first performance.
Performing at Chester’s Storyhouse, Holy Trinity Church in Warrington and at several care homes in Cheshire, the choir was formed by the first year Nursing students during their Creative Health placement which explores new and inventive ways to improve healthcare education and practice.
The group has been working together as a team to explore the benefits of singing both individually and as part of a group in the community.
The students have been taking part in music therapy sessions with performance company Making Maestros led by Jennie O’Hare. They hope their performances will encourage others to sing and express themselves creatively to boost mental health.
Student Rachel Harkin said: “Singing can have benefits to both mental and physical wellbeing, for example it can relieve stress, stimulate immune response to improve lung function and in addition, singing can also create a sense of belonging and connection for individuals with others. We can promote singing within our varying fields of Nursing and now that we have actively promoted singing within our local community the benefits have also been seen “and heard” by the public.
“The music therapy we have engaged with alongside the performances has been of huge benefit to us and has had a positive impact on our mental wellbeing.The performance made many of us feel emotional, and for some it even brought a tear to their eye. The amount of support and encouragement we received as a group from mentors, lecturers and the wider public who observed and joined in on performance day has given us all the confidence to advocate for singing therapy in our future careers.”
The Creative Health placement was developed by the Faculty of Health and Social Care and the Philip Barker Centre for Creative Learning as a direct result of the NHS Long Term Plan 2019, changes and demands to the practice circuit and the 2017 inquiry report into Creative Health.
Three choirs have been formed by the Nursing students with further performances set to take place.
Charlotte Carroll, Lecturer in Practice Learning, said: “The feedback we have received from all the performances has been positive from both the students and the audiences, and we are looking forward to future performances from our creative health choirs.
“There are a variety of physical, emotional, and mental health benefits from singing with research showing it can have positive impact on those with conditions such as dementia, Parkinson’s, depression, anxiety and asthma and we hope by our students coming together we can promote these benefits in the community.”
