Educating people to care for their voices

Be part of the change in helping people to speak and sing efficiently, effectively and enjoyably

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Fully online, accredited, accessible training

Giving a Voice to Vocal Health

Vocal Health Education provides training for people who want to know how to look after their voices and the voices of others. This training is at many levels, from basic maintenance of your own vocal health right through to restoring the health and wellbeing of our clients.

Vocal Health First Aid

Be the teacher you wish you’d had.
Give the advice you wish you’d known.
Recognise when to ask for help.

 

Boost your CV with this externally accredited qualification.

Fully accredited Qualification

10 hours of film content

15 mins a day
for 6 weeks

LIVE online assessment

What is the Vocal Health First Aid qualification?

An understanding of vocal health and the factors that can affect vocal wellbeing.

Practical skills to spot the signs of a range of vocal dysfunction and imbalance.

Knowledge to help someone towards recovery by:

  • Guiding them in self-management, or
  • Passing them on to further support, whether that is specialist vocal rehabilitation coaching or clinical treatment
An understanding of how to prevent vocal health issues from occurring in the workplace.
Scope of Practice

What does a qualified Vocal Health First Aider do?

Listen & Look

Ask & Assess

Safely Suggest

Evaluate

Reassure & Refer

Where does a qualified Vocal Health First Aider work?

The VHFA will be integral to policy-making and scheduling, so that vocal health considerations are woven into the fabric of these organisations and institutions. Every touring company, conservatoire, theatre company, choral society or theatre school needs a Vocal Health First Aider, who will be the first port of call for any voice user with a problem.

Prioritise vocal health in your workplace by ensuring you have a Vocal Health First Aider on your team.

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Theatre Companies
Colleges & Conservatoires
Youth Choirs
Performance Training Colleges
Saturday Theatre Schools
Choral Societies
Community Choirs
Schools
GP Surgeries

Pricing and Information

Total cost of the accredited (Level 2 award) Vocal Health First Aid qualification

£184.00

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How does the qualification work?

When you sign into our online learning platform, you will be guided through 37 short films that make up 7 of the 8 units of the qualification. At the end of the course content, there are 7 multiple choice assessments relating to each unit of content. There are approximately 10 hours of learning content to watch in total

and these videos are able to be viewed as many times as needed. Additionally, we provide supporting material for Units 1-7 in the form of PDFs. These documents have all the slides shown in the films and are downloadable for your personal use only.

30 days to complete the multiple-choice questions

When you sign up, you have 6 weeks in which to complete Units 1-7 of the VHFA course, meaning that you can organise your learning experience around your work / life schedule.

How do I qualify as a Vocal Health First Aider?

In order to pass the online learning platform, ready for your final LIVE assessment with one of our specialists, you need to pass each of the first 7 units with 65%.

If you do not attain a 65% pass mark for one quiz unit, you will be given a second attempt. Once the assessment is in progress, you are unable to access the course content until the unit quiz has been completed. However, before your second attempt at the quiz you may return to the unit content to revise and look over any notes you have made.

If after your second attempt you do not reach a 65% pass mark, you will be required to resit that individual unit. This will be arranged with the VHFA Course Manager.

To resit any units that you didn’t reach the 65% pass mark on after the second attempt there will be a £25 (incl. VAT) administration fee. This fee will cover a single resit of each of Units 1-7 needing to be re-sat. This can be purchased from our website.

21 days to complete the 1-2-1 interview

Once Units 1-7 are successfully completed, you will have a 1-2-1 interview with an assessor to complete Unit 8 of the course. This is an opportunity to discuss your understanding of the course content alongside how you will implement your knowledge moving forward. You have 21 days after completion of Units 1-7 to complete Unit 8.

If you did not meet the assessment criteria for Unit 8 you will need to resit the interview. You will have 2 weeks to review the course material using your initial exam feedback to guide you toward the areas you need to revisit. You will then resit the 1-2-1 interview at the end of those 2 weeks. The fee to resit Unit 8 is £67 (incl. VAT).

When you have completed and passed all 8 units, you will be awarded your Certificate in Vocal Health First Aid; a fully accredited level 2 qualification. The certificate is valid for three years, at the end of this time, you will be sent a reminder to re-register with Vocal Health Education.

What will I learn?

Unit 1: Introduction

  • What is Vocal Health First Aid (Stephen King and Dr Jenevora Williams)
  • The Bio-Psycho-Social Model (Stephen King)
  • Considering the Whole Body (Line Hilton)
  • Singers Are Human, Too! (Line Hilton)

Unit 2: The Mind/Body

  • An Introduction to Mindfulness (Dr. Anne-Marie Czajkowski)
  • Practical Mindfulness (Dr. Anne-Marie Czajkowski)
  • Mind/Body 1 (Dr Jenevora Williams)
  • Mind/Body 2 (Dr Jenevora Williams)
  • Mind/Body 3 (Dr Jenevora Williams)

Unit 3: Functional Anatomy

  • Anatomy 1 – Body Balance (Dr Jenevora Williams)
  • Anatomy 2 – Head and Neck (Dr Jenevora Williams)
  • Anatomy 3 – Breathing and Posture (Dr Jenevora Williams)
  • Anatomy 4 – The Vocal Tract (Dr Jenevora Williams)
  • Anatomy 5 – The Larynx (Dr Jenevora Williams)
  • Anatomy 6 – The Vocal Folds (Dr Jenevora Williams)

Unit 4: Assessment Methods

  • Assessing Tension I (Stephen King)
  • Assessing Tension II (Stephen King)
  • Vocal Assessment Methods (Chris Johnson)
  • Speaking Voice Assessment (Lydia Hart SLT)
  • Grading the Voice (Lydia Hart SLT)
  • Movement Series 1 (Chris Johnson)
  • Movement Series 2 (Chris Johnson)
  • Movement Series 3 (Chris Johnson)
  • Building Intuition and Functional Listening Skills (Chris Johnson)

Unit 5: Pathology

  • Joint Voice Clinic (Natalie Watson ENT)
  • Pathology (Natalie Watson ENT)
  • It’s All Connected (Line Hilton)
  • Hydration and Reflux (Duncan Rock)
  • The Holistic Approach (Line Hilton)

Unit 6: Hormones and Ageing

  • Voice and The Ageing Process (Joanne Bozeman)
  • Female Voice and The Hormonal Landscape I (Joanne Bozeman)
  • Female Voice and The Hormonal Landscape II (Joanne Bozeman)

Unit 7: Practical Advice

  • An Introduction to Straw Phonation (Oren Boder)
  • Common Myths and Myth Busting (Duncan Rock)
  • Exercise and the Voice (Duncan Rock)
  • The Singer’s First Aid Kit (Dr Jenevora Williams)
  • Course Summary (Eimear McCarthy Luddy)

Resources

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Our courses have been developed to meet the specific needs of our learners and have been accredited by the CPD Certification Service demonstrating their quality and rigour.