The Kairos Alive! Dancing Heart™, 55+Performing Arts Active Adults™, Moving Well™ Training, Creativity Café™, New Community Dance Hall™ and Community Arts and Wellbeing™ Residencies were designed based on a landmark study commissioned by the AARP, the NEA and the NIMH, directed by the late Dr. Gene Cohen, PhD, of the George Washington University Center for Aging, Health and Humanities. In that study, older adults who participated in weekly artistic programming with professional performing artists not only showed stabilization, but actual improvement, with regard to physical, social and emotional well-being, including: 

• Fewer doctor visits

• Less Use of Medication

• Lower Depression

• Increase of activities

 

According to Peter Davies, Ph.D., Scientific Director of the Litwin-Zucker Center for the Study of Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders, Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, quoted in the PBS documentary, Arts and the Mind:

 

“The largest single cause of intellectual problems in the elderly is Alzheimer’s disease. It's very common, [but] about 65-70 % of individuals don't end up with Alzheimer’s disease. That means their brain is put together to protect itself. A lifetime of involvement with the arts, particularly with arts that involve both physical and mental activity - dance, drama, playing a musical instrument - improves the ability of the brain to resist the disease…. The evidence says that participation in dance programs reduces the rate of development of dementia by maybe 75%. There is no drug - crowned or even on the horizon - that can reduce the rate of development of Alzheimer’s by 75%." 

 

The Dancing Heart™ is evidence–based with full documentation and evaluation that is performed regularly. In our partnership with Wilder Foundation beginning in 2005, after 8 months, 43% of participants in the Dancing Heart Memory Loss program showed improvement in balance and cognition. We have data from 5 Ebenezer Foundation nursing home sites where staff did an initial baseline measure and every 12 weeks for four cycles. The majority of those tested maintained, and did not decline in balance and cognition. We saw reduced depression levels, and participants continued to maintain or show less decline over a one-year period.

 

Siri Rydholm, in her research on the Kairos Alive! Dancing Heart™ for Saint Catherine University, Importance of a Dance Program for Long-Term Care Residents, summarized research in the field relevant to our work:  

 

“The sense of control that many people experience during engagement in artistic or physical activities, such as dance, has been shown to boost the level of T cells and NK cells in the immune system, leading to improvements in general health for all participants, including those in the later stages of life (Cohen, 2006). 

 

“Verghese, Lipton, Katz, Hall & Derby and colleagues conducted a study in 2003 to investigate the relationship between leisure activities and the risk of dementia in the elderly. These researchers examined the frequency of participation in leisure activities among 469 subjects, age 75 or older. Each leisure activity was given a rating on physical-activity and cognitive-activity scales. The results of this study showed that many of the cognitive leisure activities had a clear association with dementia-risk reduction. In contrast, dance was the only physical leisure activity to show the same clear association with reduced dementia-risk. This study suggested that dance is one example of a leisure activity that is both physically and cognitively stimulating, and is highly likely to have an impact on delaying the onset of Alzheimer‘s disease for high-risk populations. Dance was also shown to be the most preferred activity among elders who were surveyed regarding leisure and physical activities (Song et al., 2004).

 

“While it has been suggested that dance may not improve cognitive functioning in community dwelling elderly participants without symptoms of dementia (Alpert et al., 2009), dance has been shown to produce improved mental status and behavior in patients diagnosed with moderate or severe dementia (Hokkanen, Rantala, Remes, Härkönen & Viramo et al., 2008).”

 

We have many documented case study stories about elders making participation and subsequent health stabilization and improvement breakthroughs in our programs. Additionally, we have many case study stories of similar breakthroughs with family caregiver participants, and improved staff satisfaction as a result of our programs.

 

Additionally, we anecdotally observe community building benefits of participating in our intergenerational interactive participatory arts and health education engagement programs as a core community coherence activity, including:

• Relationship creation and deepening.

• Development of trust.

• Increased ability to take risks.

• Increased understanding and appreciation of metaphor, paradox and cultural differences.

• Increased ability to reconcile seemingly contradictory experiences.

• Increased enjoyment of community participation.

• Increase personal and community leadership to take action toward healthy active lifestyles.