NCT06204029

Everyone Can Sing: A Feasibility Study of a Mental Health Promoting Intervention Among 0-3rd Grade Students

Everyone Can Sing. A Feasibility Study of Class Choir as a Mental Health Promoting Intervention Among 0-3rd Grade Students

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 910 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Southern Denmark · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 5 Years – 10 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study aims to explore the feasibility of implementing and evaluating a class-based intervention in three Danish primary schools. The intervention includes class choir among all students in 0 to 3rd grade as part of the regular school schedule.

Detailed description

Approximately every fifth child in Denmark experience mental health problems, mental illness, or low levels of school thriving before the age of ten, and 15% of Danish adolescent are diagnosed with a mental disorder before they turn 18. The experience of mental health problems, low school thriving and mental illness in childhood and adolescence is a severe risk factor for school segregation, low grades, school dropout and mental illness in youth and adulthood. There is therefore an urgent need for feasible and effective mental health promoting and preventive interventions from early childhood. High-quality music singing (e.g. choir singing) can promote well-being, social inclusion in school, and positive social relations among school-children, which are key prerequisites for strengthening children's mental health. However, the potential benefits of this type of intervention have not been evaluated in a Danish context. Therefore, we developed the Alle kan synge (AKS; in English: Everyone can sing) intervention as a prototype for implementation and dissemination. The aim of this feasibility study is to explore the feasibility of implementing the AKS intervention in three Danish primary schools and assess feasibility of the evaluation design. Findings will provide knowledge on the critical aspects of the intervention, which may lead to a possible refinement of the AKS intervention, the implementation processes or evaluation design.

Conditions

• Mental Health

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Everyone can sing	The choir lessons are taught by a trained choir leader in close collaboration with the teacher in each class. The choir leaders and music teachers at the school also facilitate choir in the morning for selected or all classes. A special AKS pedagogy is developed and based on the inclusive nature of joyful musicking with body and voice. The pedagogy is developed to ensure that everyone is taken care of, so all children regardless of social or cultural background develop social and professional competencies central to a positive school life. The most important elements in this pedagogy include: A co-teacher system; Each student has a "choir partner"; Discipline in the classroom lessons is maintained by clear, simple, and subtle means.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-01-04
• Primary completion: 2025-03-01
• Completion: 2025-03-01
• First posted: 2024-01-12
• Last updated: 2024-12-18

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Denmark