Singing and COPD: exploring the experiences of people attending a group activity

Aim/objective
To understand the lived experiences of participants with COPD attending a singing group.

Rationale
The research into singing groups for people living with COPD suggests that participants find the groups enjoyable and report it to be beneficial with regards to improving symptoms. However, the quantitative data from a companion paper (Clift, Skingley, Meadows and Dickinson, 2022) are not consistent with these findings and further research is needed to understand the underpinning explanations from the participant perspective.

Approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five participants who have been diagnosed with COPD, recruited from a singing group designed to support them with breathlessness. Participants were asked about their experiences of living with COPD as well as of the singing programme. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach was applied to the data gathered from these interviews. The Common Sense Model of illness representation was used to inform the analysis.

Findings
The study identified five explanatory themes: blame and the restrictive impact of COPD, changes in self-efficacy and a sense of control over COPD, positive social connections within the group, positive emotional and cognitive changes during and after the group, and the value of breathing techniques.

Discussion and conclusion
The participants reported stigma over their condition before the group and that COPD has a restrictive impact on their lives. Following attending the singing group, the participants experienced a change in their attitudes towards their condition, feeling a greater sense of confidence and control over their condition. The participants felt the factors involved in this change were the social connections both with their peers and the group leader, the positive emotional changes during and following the group and the impact of the breathing techniques they were taught. Future work should therefore aim to promote self-efficacy and self-management for participants.