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Donegal choir is good for your
health
16.10.19
NEW research into the
impact of Ceol le Cheile, Donegal’s
Intergenerational Choir, has found that it’s not
only good for your mental wellbeing but it’s good
for your physical health too.
Participants revealed through this research that
they found a stark improvement in their physical
health with improvements being experienced in memory
function, respiratory health as well as in posture,
stamina and energy levels. |
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Pictured at the launch of the Ceol le
Cheile Choir Evaluation Report in Letterkenny Public
Services Centre are members of the choir along with
Cllr. Nicholas Crossan, Cathaoirleach and Rebecca
Prunty, author of the report. |
Donegal native Rebecca
Prunty, a student at Sligo IT, carried out research
to explore the impact of the Donegal
intergenerational choir through analysing the
thoughts, opinions and attitudes of Ceol le Chéile
members and key personnel and agencies. This
research was funded by the HSE.
“Fifty-three participants completed review
questionnaires and qualitative data was obtained
from focus groups with choir members, interviews
with key personnel and agencies and individual choir
members” explains Rebecca Prunty.
“11 older adults took part in the adult focus group
and 5 children engaged in a child friendly focus
group discussion. Information was sought about each
interviewee’s involvement in the choir through
one-to-one, semi-structured interviews”.
The research found that older adults appreciate the
opportunity to engage in a scheduled social activity
every week and that Ceol le Chéile’ has become the
highlight of their week.
One adult participant revealed “since I retired
about 9 years ago, I’ve been looking for a choir to
join… I just love that social aspect of singing
together”. Another adult respondent said “at
rehearsals I always have a laugh. I think laughter
is as good as singing. It really gels people
together”.
While one of the younger participants described the
choir as a ‘big family’ saying “we are like a big
family because we have friends that are young and
old”.
Ceol le Cheile was established in 2018 and is a
flagship initiative of the Donegal Age Friendly
Initiative. |
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