Music, Singing and Wellbeing

What music and singing interventions work to improve wellbeing of healthy adults? This briefing looks at all the available evidence to support better policy.

Below is the evidence of impact on different populations that participated in group singing, listening to music and structured music interventions. Further evidence, with standardised reporting, could help us understand the characteristics of the most successful projects.

Structured music and singing activities have wellbeing benefits for particular groups

Group singing has wellbeing benefits, with a lot of evidence available for older adults

Wellbeing benefits from group singing can relate to connecting in a community and finding identity and expression.

Listening to music in itself has wellbeing benefits.

Music and singing activities can enhance and maintain subjective wellbeing in healthy adults. Wellbeing is important as a goal in itself, for people to feel satisfied with their lives and experience. However, higher levels of wellbeing have also been associated with better health, work performance and social contribution.

Commonly identified priorities for local authorities

• Social Isolation and impact on mental health and wider aspects of people’s health.
• Mobilising communities and providing opportunities to improve wellbeing.
• Enhancing and maintaining wellbeing in communities, at home and work.
• Supporting maternal wellbeing and reducing anxiety.
  Supporting marginalised groups.
• Wider health and wellbeing outcomes, in work and in the community.

There is a strong case for local authorities, trusts and foundations to continue supporting of music and singing activities which enhance and maintain subjective wellbeing in adults.

There is a particularly strong case to support participatory music and singing programmes which can help to maintain wellbeing and prevent isolation, depression and mental ill
health in older adult age groups.

Listening to music has been shown to alleviate anxiety in young adults, who have to date been relatively neglected in debates and programme development around music, arts and wellbeing.

Strong evidence supports using structured music therapy to reduce the intensity of stress, anxiety and depression for males.

There is promising evidence that music sessions can alleviate anxiety in young adults and young offenders, and reduce the intensity of stress, anxiety and depression for
pregnant women and males.

Local authorities, trusts and foundations can continue to explore these options, to make sure we understand what works.

Trusts and foundations, or any organisation funding music and singing projects, can play an important role in developing the evidence base.

This can be done by supporting and evaluating activities where there is initial evidence (for example, projects for young offenders or marginalised groups) to better
understand the impact.

But what works best? How does this compare to other activities? We still need to find out more.

What type of music and singing intervention is most effective, in which format, for which group – and why? How can these be designed to have the greatest impact? How long
do the impacts last for? How does a singing intervention compare to other group activities?

Funders play an essential role in answering these questions, by supporting projects to evaluate what matters, using standardised frameworks.

The what works centre for wellbeing are developing a set of tools for practitioners and community groups.

The evidence teams are reviewing the evidence on cost effectiveness over the coming months, to help groups and funders compare across activities and provide an idea where
money may best be spent.