Dance and dementia project: findings from the pilot study

The project was a small pilot study seeking to explore the role of dance in maintaining and developing relationships between people with dementia and, between people with dementia and those who care for and support them. Sitting within the context of a growing body of work on the use of creative therapies and interactions with people with dementia it sought to develop thinking on the use of dance as a communication mechanism particularly focusing on the potential to increase social interaction and on the importance of the relational network in care for people with dementia. A joint project between academics, creative practitioners and local authority staff it gathered data on the impact of a series of dance movement sessions at a residential and day care unit in Brighton & Hove. The data was gathered through engagement and observation by the dance, research and care staff involved in delivering the sessions, through interviews with participants and their carers and from reflections recorded by staff working with the participants. The project ran between January and March 2011.