Drug companies all over the world are rushing to create medications and a vaccine for COVID-19. But for many patients now hospitalized due to the pandemic, music is proving to be a welcome treatment for worn-down spirits, irritation, frustration, and fatigue.
And in more ways than one.
Concerts to Ease the Mind
Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego in Hillcrest and UC San Diego Health facilities are just the latest in a growing number of health facilities now offering COVID-19 patients free, one-on-one private concerts, played virtually via iPad by string musicians from all over the country.
These “treatments” are provided by Project: Music Heals Us, a 6-year-old nonprofit in New York that creates concerts in nontraditional locations, like nursing homes, homeless centers, and correctional facilities. According to Andrew Janss, the Project’s co-artistic director – who is also a professional cellist – since launching their COVID-19 concert program in April, 88 musicians have contributed more than 140 hours of music for 545 listeners at twelve hospitals in eight cities across the US, from San Diego to Boston.
The Intensive Care Unit manager at Scripps Mercy, Truong-Giang Huynh, can attest to the success of these 15- to 20-minute concerts. He is also a musician, and has played the violin for several concert organizations in San Diego for 20 years. He said he had watched with excitement how the short musical interactions have a big impact on COVID patients.
“I watch the professional musicians playing for them and literally before my eyes I see the (patients) doze off,” Huynh said. “It’s really beneficial for the patient because these patients need to rest. A lot of them are agitated because of many medications and we’re in their room constantly, so they lose sense of what’s day and what’s night.”
He says he’s seen recently extubated patients struggling with having their arms strapped down suddenly calm and sit still. And he saw an unresponsive woman open her eyes when the violinist started to play.
There’s no denying music’s roll in both healing and soothing.
Opera for Long COVID Sufferers
A new program is underway across England, designed to help with breathlessness and anxiety in long COVID sufferers – opera lessons!
The ENO Breathe scheme – created through the partnership of English National Opera (ENO) and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust – teaches patients vocal exercises and breathwork to help “retrain” their breathing – a common long-term COVID issue.
The idea is to help give patients “self-management tools” for “breathlessness, and the anxiety that this can produce,” which are the two most common symptoms of long COVID.
“One of the things that is really hard if you have been unwell for a long time,” Suzi Zumpe, ENO Breathe’s creative director, told the BBC, “is that you have potentially never been particularly conscious of how you breathe when you were well, then it’s been a struggle, and so getting back to what normal feels like – when it isn’t something you’re terrible conscious of remembering – is difficult.”
ENO Breathe was first offered to only 12 long COVID sufferers between September and November 2020. The group had a wide age range, from early 30s to late 70s, and all had ongoing symptoms of breathlessness and anxiety 8-12 weeks after first testing positive for COVID.
The good news is: it works!
Nearly all of the patients (90%) said they had “definite improvements in symptoms and wellbeing” by the end of the trial program. In fact, one participant, Ludmila, said: “I’ve never before had an experience like this. I didn’t think things like singing could help me with my breathing and improve my recovery from COVID. It has really helped me emotionally and physically.”
How it Works
In weekly, virtual sessions, singing specialists teach ENO Breathe patients to focus “constructively” on their breathing by singing lullabies – using techniques usually used by opera singers!
Lullabies were chosen because “traditional lullabies cross boundaries of culture, are accessible to all, and their purpose is to calm.”
In a video created by the BBC, ENO Breathe participants can be seen singing along with creative director Suzi Zumpe as she constantly feeds her students words of encouragement and tells them to “stay tall,” among other instructions meant to help with their breathwork and vocal ability.
“As we continue to respond to the latest surge in COVID-19 cases in the UK, we must also remember those patients who are still suffering with COVID symptoms long after their initial disease,” says Dr. Sarah Elkin, a consultant in respiratory medicine and clinical director of integrated care at Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust. “Ongoing breathlessness is debilitating and can be frightening. We hope this program will support people to improve and help reduce their symptoms. We look forward to widening participation as the program rolls out across the country.”
According to recent data, one in ten coronavirus sufferers will experience symptoms that last three months or longer, making creative treatments like these important for our health and wellbeing.
Are you looking to add more music to your life to help manage stress during the pandemic? The Music Studio is now offering a wide selection of interactive, virtual, and 100% online courses you can enjoy from the comfort and safety of your own home! With programs for children and adults of all ages and skill levels, now is the perfect time to start – or continue – on you very own musical journey!