At Sing to Beat Parkinson’s, our work is grounded in a growing body of research that shows how singing can offer real, measurable benefits for people living with Parkinson’s. From improved speech and breathing to enhanced mood and social connection, these studies highlight the powerful role music can play in supporting wellbeing.
On this page, you’ll find a selection of published papers and academic articles exploring the science behind singing and its positive impact on neurological conditions. Whether you’re a health professional, researcher, or simply curious to learn more, we invite you to explore the evidence that underpins everything we do.
A groundbreaking new international study on Singing and Parkinson’s has found that group singing enhances quality of life and mental health in older people. This paper explored whether there are differences in the effects of group singing intervention on people with Parkinson’s (PwPs) in Australia, UK and South Korea.
Grenville Hancox, Artistic Director and Founder of Sing to Beat Parkinson’s and Trish Vella-Burrows, Director of Research were both co-authors of this paper.
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that leads to altered neural control of movement, including the control of voice, respiration, and swallowing.
There is a prevalent need to provide therapy for voice, respiration, and swallowing difficulties because current pharmacological and surgical treatments do not effectively treat these impairments. Previous research has demonstrated that singing may be a treatment option to target voice, respiratory, and swallowing impairments, as well as quality of life.
Ten patients diagnosed with PD participated in this one-group, repeated measures design study. Participants received the sixty-minute intervention, in a small group setting once a week for 20 consecutive weeks.
Speech and singing quality were acoustically analysed using a KayPentax Multi-Dimensional Voice Program, voice ability using the Voice Handicap Index (VHI), and depressive symptoms using the Montgomery and Asberg Depression rating scale (MADRS).
Ninety percent of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) develop voice problems and many consider poor verbal communication skills to be one of their most serious concerns.
Method: The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine whether a combined vocal pedagogy and voice therapy approach that emphasizes vocal effort and includes singing as half of each treatment session, improves the vocal ability of people with PD.