Kontos P, Grigorovich A, Kosurko A, Bar RJ, Herron RV, Menec VH, Skinner MW. Dancing With Dementia: Exploring the Embodied Dimensions of Creativity and Social Engagement.
THE GERONTOLOGIST 2021;
61:714-723. [PMID:
32909607 PMCID:
PMC8495889 DOI:
10.1093/geront/gnaa129]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background and Objectives
Dance is increasingly being implemented in residential long-term care to
improve health and function. However, little research has explored the
potential of dance to enhance social inclusion by supporting embodied
self-expression, creativity, and social engagement of persons living with
dementia and their families.
Research Design and Methods
This was a qualitative sequential multiphase study of Sharing Dance Seniors,
a dance program that includes a suite of remotely streamed dance sessions
that are delivered weekly to participants in long-term care and community
settings. Our analysis focused on the participation of 67 persons living
with dementia and 15 family carers in residential long-term care homes in
Manitoba, Canada. Data included participant observation, video recordings,
focus groups, and interviews; all data were analyzed thematically.
Results
We identified 2 themes: playfulness and sociability. Playfulness refers to
the ways that the participants let go of what is “real” and
became immersed in the narrative of a particular dance, often adding their
own style. Sociability captures the ways in which the narrative approach of
the Sharing Dance Seniors program encourages connectivity/intersubjectivity
between participants and their community; participants co-constructed and
collaboratively animated the narrative of the dances.
Discussion and Implications
Our findings highlight the playful and imaginative nature of how persons
living with dementia engage with dance and demonstrate how this has the
potential to challenge the stigma associated with dementia and support
social inclusion. This underscores the urgent need to make dance programs
such as Sharing Dance Seniors more widely accessible to persons living with
dementia everywhere.
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