Dancing into health: Older adults’ perceptions of dance, falls and wellbeing

Abstract

Falls are a global societal issue, with one in three adults over sixty-five experiencing a fall each year in Aotearoa New Zealand (Sherrington et al., 2019).

This study focuses on the people behind the statistics. It is centred around a “community dance as fall prevention” intervention in the Thames, Coromandel district of Aotearoa New Zealand. It situates community dance scholarship in the landscapes of sociology and gerontology as the lenses best suited to investigating and articulating the everyday experiences of the one in three older adults who fall.

Through a qualitative research design, the study researched alongside six older adults to answer the research question, "How does dance benefit the health and wellbeing of older adults who fall?". Interviews and a focus group discussion elicited understandings of how the participants define health and wellbeing, how the benefits of dance fit into this definition and how this intersects with their perceptions of falls.

Grounded within an interpretive epistemology, findings were narrated through the individual case studies of six older adults, combined with thematic analysis across cases, to bring forth the themes of inter-connectedness, agency, personal control, motivations, and the group.

This study identifies older adults as active agents in their health and examines the complex relationship between the body, personal identity and health. None of the six participants were aware of any falls provision or falls messaging within the local area. Health communications are not effectively reaching their target audience. This thesis explores why.

In light of Aotearoa New Zealand's aging strategy, "Better Later Life - He Oranga Kaumātua 2019-2034," which prioritises the provision of a nationwide strength and balance programme, this thesis posits that a broader range of strength and balance programmes, including dance, will better accord with the positive actions older adults want to take for themselves. This highlights the imperative for older adults' perspectives to be included in the policies and programmes that concern them.