Arla is co-director and chief researcher of the SingWell Project (www.singwell.org), an international research project exploring group singing as one potential strategy to address psychosocial wellbeing, communication, and health issues in older adulthood. SingWell is a SSHRC funded project that unites over 50 researchers, practitioners, community organizations, and choirs in Canada and around the world.
Arla has a long relationship with the SMART lab, beginning in 2009. Much of her work over the last decade has sought to identify and optimize music-based interventions that can contribute to psychological and social wellbeing in a variety of different populations. Her doctoral dissertation (2016) explored group singing as a strategy for promoting positive social relations within and across cultures.
Selected publications:
Good, A., Earle, E., Vezer, E., Gilmore, S., Livingstone, S., & Russo, F. A. (2023). Community Choir Improves Vocal Production Measures in Individuals Living with Parkinson’s Disease. Journal of Voice.
Good, A., Peets, K. F, Choma, B. L, & Russo, F. A. (2022) Singing foreign songs promotes shared common humanity in elementary school children. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
Good A., & Russo, F. A. (2021). Changes in mood, oxytocin, and cortisol following group and individual singing: A pilot study. Psychology of Music. 03057356211042668.
Good, A., Sims, L., Clarke, K., & Russo, F. A. (2020). Indigenous youth reconnect with culture: The evaluation of a community and school-based traditional song and dance program. Journal of Community Psychology. 49(2),588-604.
Good, A., Kreutz, G., Choma, B., Fiocco, A., & Russo, F. A. (2020) The SingWell project
protocol; the road to understanding the benefits of group singing in older adults. World Health
Organizations Public Health Panorama, 6(1).
Good, A.,Gordon, K. A., Papsin, B. C., Nespoli, G., Hopyan, T., Peretz, T., & Russo, F. A. (2017). Benefits of Music Training in Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants. Ear and Hearing, 38(4), 455.
Good, A., & Russo, F. A. (2016). Singing promotes cooperation in a diverse group of children. Social Psychology, 47(6), 340-344.
Good, A., Russo, F. A., & Sullivan, J. (2015). The efficacy of singing in foreign-language learning. Psychology of Music, 43(5), 627-640
Good, A., Reed, M. J., & Russo, F. A. (2014). Compensatory plasticity in the deaf brain: Effects on the perception of music. Brain Sciences, 4(4), 560-574.
Ammirante, P., Russo, F. A., Good, A., & Fels, D. I. (2013). Feeling voices. PloS ONE, 8, e53585