Recent St. Paul’s Hospital Drum Circle Programming:
* 2 North Psychiatry Ward – initial four week pilot series, followed by a 4 month Drum Circle Program (completed March 2012).
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CONCLUSION FROM 2011 RESEARCH STUDY RESULTS:
> Eating disorder in-patients who participated in one or more drum circle interventions experienced a highly statistically significant increase in positive affect (emotions and feelings), and a highly statistically significant decrease in negative affect, after the interventions.
Lyle Povah has been leading a Drum Circle Program at St. Paul’s Hospital in the In-Patient Eating Disorders Program since 2006, offering an initial 4 week pilot series, then a 3 month program in 2007 (see program evaluation below), a 6 month program in 2009 (see study summary below) and most recently a 10 month program, which was completed in March 2011 (see description below). Lyle has developed specific protocols for the Drum Circle Program, which he continues to expand and refine.
2010/’11 Program – Research Study
This Drum Circle Program ran weekly for a period of 10 months from June 2010 to March 2011 at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, in the In-Patient Eating Disorders Program. The research study was conducted using the validated PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Scale) to determine how the Drum Circle experience affected patient emotions and feelings. The hypothesis – “Drum Circle participation increases the positive and decreases the negative emotions and feelings in eating disorder patients”. Over the duration of the 40 one hour weekly Drum Circle Programs, 79 different patients participated in a total of 204 individual Drum Circle experiences. On a scale of 1 – 5, patients rated 10 positive emotions and feelings and 10 negative emotions and feelings before and after the experience. Their pre-scores were done immediately following a meal (a high risk time for eating disorders behaviors), just before commencement of the Drum Circle Program.
> Research Study Results: (February 2012)
* Participants who took part in just one drum circle intervention experienced a highly statistically significant improvement in positive affect (emotions and feelings) after the intervention.
* Participants who took part in just one drum circle intervention experienced a highly statistically significant decrease in negative affect (emotions and feelings) after the intervention.
* Participants who took part in one or more drum circle interventions experienced a highly statistically significant improvement in positive affect (emotions and feelings) after the intervention.
* Participants who took part in one or more drum circle interventions experienced a highly statistically significant decrease in negative affect (emotions and feelings) after the intervention.
* Participants who took part in three or more drum circle interventions experienced a statistically significant improvement in positive affect compared to those who participated in less than three drum circle interventions.
2010/’11 Program – Patient Feedback
> ”It’s fun and relaxing; love the music and drum; it brings up my mood and energy and am able to put away my worries for the hour and a good post meal distraction; feels very therapeutic to get my anxiety and jitters out on the drum.”
> ”Current struggle dealing with anger in a positive acceptable way; drumming is an excellent way to do this and it provides pleasure and satisfaction at the same time; soothing, fun, gets my emotions out (a real plus).”
> ”My stress and headaches are reduced; the experimentation of being allowed to contribute your own music; it is empowering to be loud and to express ourselves.”
About Lyle:
“Lyle has just the right tone & approach. I like his ability to roll with it and be flexible and inclusive.”
“Lyle was great. Very positive and encouraging, especially to those patients who didn’t want to participate. His passion for music and drumming was infectious.”
“Thank you again! I love the drumming sessions – I find them very uplifting and emotionally evocative. It feels good to be in motion, and to experience feelings through a different medium. Lyle is a very warm, approachable + accommodating person. He is an excellent facilitator.”
2006-2009 Patient comments about the Drum Circle Program experience:
• “I feel connected to the inside and outside like I haven’t in a long time. It reminds
me of when I was involved in music.”
• “I was absolutely free from the ED for a whole hour.”
• “I really felt like I had learned and been empowered. Hitting the drums was also a
great release of tensions and frustrations and fears.”
• “It was distracting, spiritual (for me) and grounding.”
• “It gives me ideas for how to occupy my time out of the hospital.”
• “This is definitely something I would consider taking part in the community.”
• “Playing the drum was like a way to speak words that I was holding back.”
The CV below lists some of the programs Lyle has facilitated that specifically deal with people with eating disorders. There is strong support in the health community for the use of music, rhythm, and drumming to effect positive change.
Click link for a CV specifically related to eating disorders Lyle’s CV
