Access Alliance Arts for Family Health

Singing as a culturally tailored health approach

April 7, 2026

By Christen Kong, Health promoter and HEAL project coordinator

What if health care included not only medical treatment, but also connection, culture, and community? Social prescribing is gaining attention as a way to broaden how we understand health by linking people to community-based supports alongside clinical care. According to the Alliance for Healthier Communities, social prescribing is a healthcare approach that connects patients to personalized community services through referrals, addressing social factors that influence health alongside clinical care (2026). For many newcomers, this can help bridge gaps in culturally responsive care by connecting health to trusted relationships, community spaces, and meaningful forms of support.

A powerful example is group singing.

Rieko Asaba and Kate Keenan, two expressive art facilitators led the weekly Community Singing Circles hosted at AccessPoint at Danforth from September 2025 to March 2026. During this time, the team observed direct connections to health while honouring different cultural identities. “Group singing has clear relevance in healthcare and settlement contexts,” says Keenan. “It supports co-regulation, boosts oxytocin, and creates measurable physiological benefits, but it’s also something people understand instinctively.”

In other words, while there is science behind it, people don’t need research to feel its impact. Singing together taps into something deeply human – something ancient, shared across cultures and generations. In a singing circle, participants are not patients or clients. They are contributors. They bring their voices, their stories, and their cultural knowledge into the space.

A key part of the singing experience is invitation.

Participants are encouraged to share songs from their own cultures – melodies that carry memories of home, family, and identity shares Asaba. One participant described the experience as “We are getting to know each other, sharing our culture, and giving and receiving gifts from one another. It has changed my view of multiculturalism.”

Asaba and Keenan both shared about a “ripple effect”, when one person shares a song, it often sparks memories in others. A melody can remind someone of childhood, celebrations, or resilience through hardship. In this way, the group builds a shared emotional resource, a collective sense of joy and strength. A participant reinforces this by sharing “I’m a reserved person and a little shy, but this program helped me get out of that… otherwise, you don’t even leave the house. I feel the happiness. It’s the connection.”

Loneliness as defined by Carl Jung is “not from having no people, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself” (1963).

These are not just social outcomes they are health outcomes. Reduced isolation, increased confidence, and the opportunity to express what matters are not just social outcomes; they are health outcomes. They reflect the shift often associated with social prescribing: from asking “What’s the matter with you?” to asking “What matters to you?”

Facilitators also notice shifts in the room. What may begin as quiet or hesitant energy gradually becomes open, warm, and joyful. Trust builds quickly. People feel safer expressing themselves not just through song, but in conversation and connection. Asaba shares, “There’s this sense of community like, we are part of something bigger right now, and we belong.”

The success of community singing points toward a broader vision for healthcare and settlement systems – one that integrates creative, relational approaches alongside clinical care.

This includes building trust across diverse communities, so participants feel confident bringing their own cultural expressions into shared spaces. It also opens the door to multi-modal programming, combining singing with movement, rhythm, and visual arts to meet different needs and preferences. Asaba emphasizes, “It is not only about language or education, but a really genuine, fun thing that is essential for our health and well-being. It is really important for us to be integrating music groups in settlement services.”

Holistic support for improved wellness

At its core, this approach recognizes that health is not just about treating illness, it’s about supporting connection, identity, and joy. “I’m glad I came out,” one participant shared. “Otherwise, you don’t even leave the house.” “People would come in after a hard week saying they were looking forward to it, and afterwards they would say they felt different—like their energy had lifted. There was so much love in the room, and it became a real pick-me-up for all of us, something people clearly needed and were yearning for” shares Keenan.

Ultimately, community singing demonstrates that healing does not only happen in clinics or through treatment plans – it also happens in shared moments of expression, belonging, and care. As healthcare and settlement systems continue to evolve, social prescribing offers an opportunity to reimagine wellness through connection, culture, and creativity. Programs like the Community Singing Circles remind us that something as simple as singing together can reduce isolation, strengthen community, and help newcomers feel seen and valued. In a time when many people are searching for connection, these spaces offer more than support, they offer a sense of home.

References

Alliance for Healthier Communities. (n.d.). Social prescribing. Social prescribing

Jung, C. G. (1963). Memories, dreams, reflections. Vintage Books.

Rieko Asaba is a community song leader, musician, and expressive arts therapist whose work centres cultural sensitivity, belonging, and collective care. As co-facilitator of Singing Together, she brings a warm, relational approach shaped by her immigration experience.

Kate Keenan is a community song leader, composer, performer, and expressive arts therapist. As co-facilitator of Singing Together, she brings a participatory approach to newcomer community singing. Her work includes original music, family musicals, children’s television writing, and community-based song leadership.

Singing as a culturally tailored health approach

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