André da Silva, who has led Cancer United’s OUTSINGCANCER choir since it was founded in 2018, has successfully defended a doctoral thesis at the University of Chichester based on two years of research with the singers he conducts every week
André da Silva, musical director of the OUTSINGCANCER choir, has passed his doctoral viva at the University of Chichester with a thesis entitled The Impact of Singing in a Community Choir on Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers.
The research is unusual in that the choir Dr da Silva conducts was also the subject of his study. Rather than working with a group assembled for research purposes, he spent two years documenting the experiences of the OUTSINGCANCER singers themselves — people living with a cancer diagnosis, people who have finished treatment, and the family members and carers who support them.
The study combined numerical measures with singers’ own accounts. Two quantitative studies tracked members at three separate points over time and found that their emotional wellbeing was maintained throughout, across a period that included the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic. The first of those studies also recorded a significant improvement in self-efficacy, with members reporting greater confidence and self-esteem, a stronger sense of achievement, and a sense of belonging.
Interviews and an in-depth case study pointed to how the choir does this. Members described rehearsals as functioning like mindfulness, holding their attention fully in the present. Learning to breathe correctly for singing acted as a form of physical activity. And, repeatedly, singers described the choir giving back something a cancer diagnosis had taken away: a sense of identity and dignity.
Dr da Silva carried out the work as a practitioner researcher, studying the choir he himself conducts — a perspective rarely available in research of this kind.
Dr da Silva said: “The singers in this choir did not just take part in my research, they made it. Every rehearsal taught me something about how music holds people together when everything else feels uncertain. What struck me most was how often people described getting their sense of themselves back. Being able to put that on record, in a way that other choirs and other health services can use, means a great deal to me. They taught me to be resilient and never give up, strong yet vulnerable people who deserve all my respect and admiration”
Jan Sheward, founder of Cancer United, said “we have always known what walking into that rehearsal room does for people. What André has done is turn that into evidence. This is a doctorate earned in church halls, with our members, and every one of them owns a piece of it.”
Choir member Sheila Appleford said: “I felt so out of kilter after my diagnosis, and Andre and the choir saved my life. Belonging to the choir helped me understand that none of us are alone and there is always help at hand. I hope I can be of help to others when needed.”
Founded in 2018 by the Angmering-based charity Cancer United, OUTSINGCANCER is open to anyone whose life has been affected by cancer, including patients, people living beyond a diagnosis, family members and carers. The choir began with a handful of members and now rehearses three times a week, in Littlehampton, Bognor Regis and Rustington. Members are welcome at any or all of the sessions.
There is no audition, and no requirement to read music or to have sung before.
New members can join at any time. To find out more or to come along to a rehearsal, visit cancerunited.org.uk/cu-in-action/outsingcancer or email jan@cancerunited.org.uk.
