Episode #93: Raising Voices, Spirits, and Data through the SingWell Project: In conversation with Dr. Arla Good and Dr. Jessica Richardson
Welcome to the Aphasia Access Aphasia Conversations Podcast. I'm Ellen Bernstein-Ellis, Program Specialist at the Aphasia Treatment Program at Cal State East Bay in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, and a member of the Aphasia Access Podcast Working Group. Aphasia Access strives to provide members with information, inspiration, and ideas that support their aphasia care through a variety of educational materials and resources. I'm today's hosts for an episode featuring Dr. Arla Good and Dr. Jessica Richardson. We will discuss the SingWell Project and the role of aphasia choirs from a bio-psychosocial model. Today's shows features the following gap areas from the Aphasia Access State of Aphasia Report authored by Nina Simmons-Mackie: Gap area #3: insufficient availability of communication intervention for people with aphasia, or the need for services. Gap area #8: insufficient attention to depression and low mood across the continuum of care. Gap area #5: insufficient attention to life participation across the continuum of care. Guest Bios: Dr. Arla Good is the Co-director and Chief Researcher of the SingWell Project, an initiative uniting over 20 choirs for communication challenges around the world. Dr. Good is a member of the Science of Music, Auditory Research and Technology or SMART lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly Ryerson University. Much of her work over the last decade has sought to identify and optimize music based interventions that can contribute to psychological and social well-being in a variety of different populations. Dr. Jessica Richardson is an associate professor and speech-language pathologist at the University of New Mexico in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, and the Center for Brain Recovery and Repair. She is director of the UN M brain scouts lab and the stable and progressive aphasia center or space. Her research interest is recovering from acquired brain injury with a specific focus on aphasia, recovery, and management of primary progressive aphasia. She focuses on innovations in assessment and treatment with a focus on outcome measures that predict real world communication abilities, and life participation. Listener Take-aways In today's episode you will: Learn about the SingWell Project model of supporting choirs and research around the world Learn which five clinical populations are the initial targets of the SingWell Project Discover how the SingWell Project is challenging the stigma about disability and singing Learn about some of the biopsychosocial measures being used to capture choir outcomes Transcript edited for conciseness Show notes Ellen Bernstein-Ellis 02:58 I'm going to admit that aphasia choirs have long been one of my clinical passions. I'm really excited and honored to host this episode today. I'd like to just start with a question or two that will help our listeners get to know you both a little better. So Arla, is it okay, if I start with you? Would you share what motivated you to focus your research on music-based interventions? Do you have a personal connection to music? Arla Good 03:29 I feel like I could do a whole podcast on how I ended up in this field. Ellen Bernstein-Ellis 03:33 That'd be fun. Arla Good 03:34 There's just so many anecdotes on how music can be a powerful tool. I've experienced it in my own life, and I've witnessed it in other lives. I'll share one example. My grandfather had aphasia and at my convocation when I was graduating in the Department of Psychology with a BA, despite not being able to communicate and express himself, he sang the Canadian National Anthem, perfect pitch-- all of the words. It's just an accumulation of anecdotes like that, that brought me to study music psychology. And over the course of my graduate studies, I came to see how it can be super beneficial for specific populations like aphasia. So, I do have a quote from one of our choir participants that really sparked the whole idea of Sin