AIRS 2nd Annual Conference: Seattle 2010 Title: Group singing, wellbeing and health: A systematic review Authors: Stephen Clift (Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health, UK1), Jennifer J. Nicol (University of Saskatchewan), Matthew Raisbeck (Sing for Your Life Ltd, UK), Christine Whitmore (Public Health Directorate, NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent, UK), Ian Morrison Introduction Group singing is one of the most widespread forms of active musical participation in the Western World (Chorus America, 2009); but, beyond its intrinsic value and associated pleasure, is there any evidence for real and measureable impacts on the health and wellbeing of those participating? Method A review of the existing research literature on group singing, wellbeing and health was completed by searching four databases (Medline, Embase, Psychinfo, Cinahl) using the primary search terms: singing, health, wellbeing, quality of life and music therapy. Strategies implemented to identify additional research included using Google Scholar, contacting authors, and searching reference lists in papers. Excluded from this review were studies concerned with individual singing, individual music therapy interventions involving singing, studies of song writing as a form of therapy, care-giver singing, and research in which singing was combined with other forms of music making or creative activity thus making it impossible to identify specific outcomes associated with singing. Given the developing nature of the field, the aim was to provide an overview of the range of work published without applying a stringent quality screen. Results A systematic approach to identifying published research in English from 1985 served to identify 51 papers reporting on 48 studies worldwide. Studies were categorised into four groups and details of objective, context, sample, method and findings were reported in tabular form. Most studies were conducted in English speaking and Nordic countries and reported from 2000 onwards. Discussion There is evidence of increased research interest in this field. However, many studies are small scale and exploratory, with only a few large-scale surveys and well-designed experimental studies. The diversity and variations in quality of the research corpus makes it difficult to draw evidence-based conclusions regarding the value of group singing for wellbeing and health. Nevertheless, there are indications that singing can be beneficial for psychological and social wellbeing, but less clear evidence of benefits for physical health. Bios Stephen Clift is a Professor in the department of Health, Wellbeing and the Family at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK as well as Research Director of the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health. Jennifer Nicol is a faculty member at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada as well as an Accredited Music Therapist and Registered Doctoral Psychologist.