Insights of Senior Living Residents and Staff on Group-Singing

Group-singing has potential benefits for healthy aging. The purpose of this study was to inform the development of a senior group-singing program using focus groups. Key points identified for planning an effective group-singing intervention included a leisurely format, a convenient location, appropriate scheduling, proper song selection, effective leadership, live musical accompaniment, refreshments, a comfortable environment, and song lyric sheets. These findings, along with effective components of published health-related group-singing protocols and findings from other relevant literature, should be incorporated into future testing of community-based group-singing interventions..