“We’re pushing back”: Group singing, social identity, and caring for a spouse with Parkinson’s

Abstract

This article explores spouse caregivers’ experiences of a community singing group for people with Parkinson’s disease and their carers. Previous studies have demonstrated the health and wellbeing benefits of group singing for a range of populations including people with Parkinson’s, however, caregivers’ experiences of these same groups remain under-researched. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six spouse caregivers who regularly attended a joint caregiver/care recipient Parkinson’s singing group for a minimum period of 18 months. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to explore and interpret caregivers’ experiences of group singing. Using the “social cure approach” as a theoretical lens in the later stages of analysis, findings demonstrated that group singing created a social identity which helped fulfill caregivers’ basic psychological needs for belonging, meaning and purpose, social support, and agency within the marital relationship. Caregivers’ new and valued social identity helped counteract the diminishing effects of life impacted by Parkinson’s. These findings support the recognition and further understanding of group singing as an accessible and cost-effective community-based psychosocial intervention for Parkinson’s spouse caregivers.