Bronchial Boogie music sessions help asthmatic children
Dec 5 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal
A BRASS band scheme to improve the health of young asthma sufferers could be spread county wide.
A 10-week experiment called Bronchial Boogie, using three children from Pelton, County Durham, as “guinea pigs” finished this week.
And both health professionals and brass band tutor Norman Walker judged it a huge success.
Now Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham, is writing to the NHS County Durham health trust urging them to provide funding to continue the scheme.
Mr Jones said: “It is a fantastic project, not only because it encourages brass band music, but because it also helps to control asthma.
“I very much hope funding will be provided to extend this scheme to help more young people.”
Asthma nurse Allison Beales said the 10-week brass band sessions with asthma sufferers Dylan Carroll, nine, Amy Gallagher, 10, and Brogan Storey, eight, all pupils at Pelton Roseberry Primary School, had been “a huge success”.
She said: “The 10 sessions have taught the children the value of breathing exercises and how to recognise and manage the symptoms of asthma. We would very much like to see it continue.”
Nurse Beales checked the three children’s breathing before and after each brass band session, during which the youngsters played the tenor horn.
Mr Walker, 66, a retired Durham County Council librarian who formed West Pelton and District Community Brass Band at the start of the year, said: “Bronchial boogie is a potential life-saver.
“Asthma attacks do kill children, and these breathing exercises will help youngsters to control the condition. They could also save the NHS an awful lot of money in the long run.”
He hopes to continue his sessions with pupils at Pelton Roseberry Secondary School, and would like to see them spread across County Durham.
The pilot in Pelton is the first of its kind in the North East, and follows one in Oldham, Greater Manchester, four years ago which led to dramatic improvements in the condition of young asthma sufferers. Health practitioners in Oldham reported that after the completion of an 18-month scheme, just 5% of children took time off from school because of asthma – before it was 35%.
Other improvements included a reduction from 45% of children who did not take part in sport to 15 %, while the number of children sleeping through the night doubled.
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