A free programme set up by the English National Opera (ENO) during the pandemic to support people suffering with Long Covid is delivering improvements that can be clinically measured, according to a new study published in The Lancet.
The six-week course, known as ENO Breathe, was first trialled when the UK went into lockdown in 2020 – but has been rolled out on a much wider scale in the years since the pandemic.
The free, six-week course is designed to encourage better breathing, using techniques employed by the English National Opera’s singers
Research published in The Lancet Digital Health in May, carried out by Imperial College’s National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI), concluded that the Breathe programme helped to improve breathlessness, respiratory symptoms and anxiety in those who’d taken part in the online initiative.
New patients can be referred by a respiratory specialist for the weekly sessions and the course employs singing techniques, including lullabies from around the world, breath retraining and help for mental health and wellbeing.
Research analysed 1,438 patients who had been referred to participate in the Breathe course by NHS Long Covid clinics – 61 per cent said they’d experienced improvements in breathlessness.
ENO Breathe was set up by the English National Opera during the pandemic to help those suffering with Long Covid
The College of Medicine’s President, Dr Harry Brünjes, who is also president of the English National Opera (ENO), told The Sunday Times earlier this year that the project now has links with almost 100 NHS Trusts.
Dr Brünjes, who worked as a GP before taking on the role of Chairman of the ENO in 2015, and his team decided to create the programme after realising the techniques used by the esteemed organisation’s singers encouraged good breathing.
Six years on from the first global Covid outbreak, the scheme now also helps those with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), after initially being introduced to aid patients suffering with the effects of Long Covid.
Techniques used include ‘box breathing’, where participants visualise a square filling up on one side as they inhale and count to four, using the other side of the square to exhale slowly while counting back down to four.
‘It’s a form of physiotherapy with our core opera singers. We taught people just how to breathe more effectively. By doing that, it actually meant you get your oxygen saturation up,’ The College of Medicine President told the newspaper.
Previous research published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, the world’s top-ranking respiratory medicine journal, found that participants in ENO Breathe sessions experienced a 10.48 point (out of 100) reduction in breathlessness when they were running, compared to those who hadn’t undergone the course.
Click here to read the latest research on ENO Breathe in The Lancet