Online dance sessions beneficial to unpaid carers

Online dancing for unpaid adult carers proves beneficial to their mental and physical health, research at the OU finds.

Despite physical activity being shown to help health outcomes, carers in the United Kingdom have found that it is difficult to find the time, energy, and space to exercise.

The qualitative study was conducted to investigate whether offering a physical activity online would be feasible was explored in their published paper, Supporting adult unpaid carers via an online dancing intervention: A feasibility/acceptability study.

Led by Dr Jitka Vseteckova (Faculty of WELS), Dr Jo Horne, Dr Rosaria Gracia, Dr Nichola Kentzer in collaboration with the University of Bedfordshire, Anglia Ruskin University and Queens University Belfast the study interviewed six female unpaid carers who were offered an online dance intervention to see if it made a positive impact.

The paper found that the participants' experience of the online dance sessions were positive and that they found the dancing classes accessible with more opportunity to have ‘me time’.

Dr Jitka Vseteckova said:

“We have received fantastic support and advice from all agencies involved in our steering group of experts, supporting the work of the strong academic team from four Universities to conduct a study that is characterised not only by its rigour and novelty but also by its practical value to unpaid carers, who often lack ‘me time’.”

The paper calls for further research which would open possibilities to more online dancing sessions and opportunities to work with external organisations which can support their implementation. Further research could also establish these sessions as a regular provision available to carers. Additionally, the paper found that improvements to the current service was achievable with suggestions for improvement given by participants found to be both minor and easily resolved in future rollouts.