Dancing Towards Wellness Ballet Program To Benefit Rehabilitation Patients

Health practitioners learned how to put a spin on traditional exercises for brain injury
and rehabilitation patients at a dance program information session with Queensland
Ballet last week.

Allied health, orthopaedic, neurological, rehabilitation and geriatric clinicians were
invited to attend one of two modified dance sessions held at Mackay Base Hospital to
understand how ballet can support their patient’s health and wellbeing.

The specially designed dance rehabilitation programs, offered by the Van Norton Li
Community Health Institute (a division of Queensland Ballet), showcased the strength,
mobility and balance benefits dance has to offer.

Mackay Hospital and Health Service (HHS) Acting Director Medical Services
Research and Innovation Dr Pieter Nel said research suggested dance could improve
cognitive performance and reaction times, making it a useful treatment for a number of
conditions.

The Dance Health programs were underpinned by medical research and provide a
ballet program designed for patients in a hospital setting. The programs
showcased in Mackay were examples of how modified dance classes can be
useful treatments for a number of conditions including arthritis, dementia, brain
injuries, depression and Parkinson’s disease, Dr Nel said.

The two 60-minute dance rehabilitation classes were held on Tuesday 23 July
from 7.30am to 9.30am and were followed by an information session at 2pm in
the Brampton Room at K Block at Mackay Base Hospital.

The sessions provided clinicians in the Mackay HHS the opportunity to consider using
dance as a tool to enrich lives and positively impact the health and wellbeing of
patients, Dr Nel said.

The Queensland Ballet received $750,000 in funding from Queensland Health to
sustain and deliver a range of Dance Health programs through the Van Norton Li
Community Health Institute. These include Dance for Parkinson’s, Ballet for Brain
Injury, Dance for Arthritis, Dance Rehab and Ballet Serene (modified dance
classes in aged-care settings).

The modified dance programs were designed to help understand how dance
affects health and wellbeing, develop partnerships in regional communities,
supply unique training opportunities for health professionals and look for ways to
make dance more accessible.

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Dance participants Louise Mullaney (Mater), Charisma Pala, Kerri Nash, Van Norton Li Community Health head of community and education Lily Spencer, Hannah Heslin, Seona McDonald and Jessica Shepheard

Mackay HHS Acting Executive Director Research and Innovation Dr Pieter Nel and Director Van Norton Li Community Health Institute Zara Gomes. Photo credit: Mackay Hospital and Health Service

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