Research at CAV and The Asphasia Friendly Choir

How the Aphasia-Friendly Choir Brings Music Into The Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients at Cardiff and Vale UHB.  

Esther works in the Community Neurological Service, and the Live Well Service, at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.   

Previously a professional viola player, Esther was always interested in the wide ranging benefits of music and how music and creativity can support recovery and protect wellbeing. “I think I've always seen music as another form of communication.”  

Many stroke patients (and some patients with other conditions) develop ‘Aphasia’, (a complex language Disorder). “Which can affect understanding, speaking, reading, writing and our understanding of numbers” explained Esther, “aphasia can affect many aspects of communication leading to reduced social participation and confidence. It can be very isolating for people,” she continued.  

Esther spoke about being introduced to a music therapist named Vicky Guise, by one of the Consultant Dr’s in the Stroke Department. “We were really interested in bringing music into the rehabilitation of our stroke patients” said Esther   

“Our Aphasia friendly choir. The inpatient choir was one of the most rewarding and joyous projects I’ve been involved with. 

The aim of the inpatient choir was to bring people together, to sing collaboratively and we hoped, to improve communication, confidence and wellbeing. It was open to everybody, and if you could be supported to get out of bed, then you could attend the choir. 

Obviously for me, the focus was on communication and confidence. But just by taking part we wanted to really create a sense of community, and foster a sense of belonging. 

The choir also supports their ‘cognition and movement’- getting ready to attend, socialising with other choir members, having a go on a musical instrument, participants would move as part of choir, these activities, including singing(!) could help patients during their recovery.  

 “I think it was really lovely that these are very functional goals, goals that people might be doing. You know, when they leave hospital”  

Esther was granted a year long First into Research (FiR) Fellowship to explore the views of colleagues involved in the delivery of care, including physios, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, nurses, rehabilitation assistants and consultants, on the role the choir could play and impact it could have.  

An additional impact noted by Esther was the positive impact on staff in the ward and positive atmosphere created by the singing patients and choir members.  

Following on from the success of Wales’ first inpatient aphasia-friendly choir, we have now created the Cardiff and Vale Aphasia-Friendly Choir. The aim of this innovative therapeutic provision is to offer a community-based singing intervention for those with neurologically related communication difficulties who live within Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Based in the Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) department at Cardiff Metropolitan University, it is a collaborative project between the Live Well Community Neuro Service SLT team, Chroma and Cardiff Met SLT department, and is generously funded by the Tavistock Trust for Aphasia.

Read about the choir's 2025 Christmas Carol appearance here.