March 29, 2025
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Music and health: success for Wellness with WNO and expansion for ENO Breathe

Music and health: success for Wellness with WNO and expansion for ENO Breathe
WNO Producer April Heade who helped develop Wellness with WNO
WNO Producer April Heade who helped develop Wellness with WNO

The link between music, performance and health is one that performers (both amateur and professional) have largely understood implicitly, but bringing this concept to the wider world remains something of a challenge. As long ago as 2019, the WHO was reporting on arts and health [see Making Music website]

English National Opera launched ENO Breathe in 2020 in response to COVID-19 and now the programme is being rolled out further. Whilst Welsh National Opera has recently announced that a report into its its pilot Wellness with WNO: Managing Persistent Pain Programme shows that the programme has success managing Persistent Pain.

WNO’s six-week online singing and breathing pilot programme, running from March 2024 to March 2025, was designed to support people living with persistent pain. Building on the success of WNO’s Wellness with WNO Long COVID Programme, which launched in 2021, the programme includes weekly one-hour sessions and optional fortnightly drop-in sessions. A report, conducted by Milestone Tweed, highlights substantial improvements in pain management, mental and emotional health, and overall quality of life for participants. The five principal findings from the report are:

  • Reduced Pain and Improved Functionality
  • Emotional and Mental Health Benefits
  • High Participant Engagement
  • Cost Efficiency
  • Additional Benefits

I think that an interesting take-away is the fourth point –  sessions are estimated to cost of £12 per person per hour, compared to £34.30 for an NHS Band 7 Physiotherapist from Chronic Pain Services.

Centralised delivery eliminates the need for individual health boards to establish costly programmes, aligning with NICE guidance and generating savings.
“This programme is a ray of sunshine in this bleak and lonely illness”
    Wellness with WNO participant
Further information from the WNO website.
ENO Breathe

ENO Breathe is an online programme, developed by ENO in collaboration with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, was developed in 2020 to support people recovering from COVID-19 who continue to suffer from breathlessness and associated anxiety. 

Now, ENO Breathe is exploring whether its approach can benefit those living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, and other respiratory conditions. By combining breathing techniques with singing, ENO Breathe – described by participants as a ‘pocketful of hope’ – has already helped over 4,500 people across England regain control of their breathing, reduce anxiety, and improve their quality of life.
Again, the programme has multiple benefits:
  • Support respiratory health by empowering individuals to self-manage their symptoms
  • Enhance mental wellbeing, reducing anxiety and emotional distress
  • Build a supportive community for those living with respiratory conditions
  • Address health inequalities by reaching underserved communities

Further information from the ENO website.


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