Article Text
Abstract
Objectives To explore the perceptions of hospitalised older people and their relatives of the impact of taking part in group dance sessions in an acute hospital setting.
Design A qualitative descriptive approach was used.
Setting An acute hospital trust in the East of England.
Participants Purposive sample of dance group participants.
Intervention Weekly music and movement sessions for frail older people on Department of Elderly Medicine Wards and the Stroke Rehabilitation Unit. Sessions take place in the ward and are facilitated by a dance artist supported by ward staff.
Results Twenty-one semistructured interviews were conducted with older people and/or their relatives. Thematic analysis of the data identified three overarching themes: (1) dance as a physical activity, (2) dance as an opportunity for social interaction and (3) the dance group as a source of emotional support. Sessions were valued as an enjoyable way to undertake physical activity and provided an opportunity for social interaction between patients. This is important as loneliness and boredom are a common occurrence during hospitalisation and are detrimental to overall health and well-being. Patients reported an emotional impact though taking part; happiness from engaging with the group and the release of pent up emotions through the triggering of memories by the music and conversations within the group.
Conclusion Dance for Health provides a range of physical, social and emotional benefits for hospitalised older people. Further research is required to investigate the effectiveness of group dance sessions in increasing physical activity on an acute ward and the potential psychological benefits for hospitalised older people.
- geriatric medicine
- qualitative research
- rehabilitation medicine
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Footnotes
Contributors HB led the study including the design, ethical approval and observed dance sessions and conducted interviews. SH observed sessions and conducted interviews and contributed to the development of the coding framework. Both HB and SH conducted data analysis and data interpretation. HB wrote the first draft of the manuscript and SH reviewed and suggested improvements to the manuscript draft. Both authors contributed to reviewing and editing the manuscript and approved the final manuscript for submission.
Funding The Dance for Health Programme was funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust (N187/1116) and included funding for evaluation. The study was commissioned by the Head of Arts via the Addenbrookes Charitable Trust, and the programme delivery team was involved in the study design, but had no input into the data collection, management, analysis or interpretation of the data, review or approvals of the manuscript; or decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Ethics approval As an evaluation involving an intervention in current use meeting the Health Research Authority criteria of an evaluation, the project was registered with the Safety and Quality Support Department at the Cambridge University Hospitals Trust (PRN:6594). It was also approved by the ARU University Faculty Research Ethics Panel (FREP).
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data availability statement No data are available. The interview transcripts of the participants were anonymised to maintain confidentiality. Data from this study are not being made available for sharing as participants were not asked for specific consent for this as part of the consent process.
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