Study Sings the Praises of Choir Membership for Lonely Older Adults

A study by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) determined older adults singing in a choir for six months felt less lonely and more interested in life, reports CNN . UCSF, the San Francisco Community Music Center, and San Francisco's Department of Aging and Adult Services monitored 400 older adults for the study's results. An earlier UCSF study found people older than 60 who felt lonely had a 45 percent increased risk of mortality. "We think that the arts are particularly innovative for helping to improve health inequities in these communities," says UCSF's Julene Johnson. The finding of the study helped the San Francisco Community Music Center acquire a grant to keep choir programs for seniors up and running. Meanwhile, the U.S. National Institutes of Health has funded a manual to help other communities start their own choirs.