“I Love to Boogie”: An Investigation of the Feasibility of a Dance Program to Improve Gait and Balance Post-Stroke, Part Two
Are you interested in “dance-assisting” for a dance-based research study for people living with the after effects of stroke?
Volunteers are sought to assist dance students for classes starting Monday May 2nd 2016. Classes run every Monday and Wednesday from 11am-12noon for 10-weeks. Volunteers are requested to assist for 1 more classes. See dates below. Picks the days that work for you and let’s touch base!
Some students may require minimal physical assistance to move and maintain their balance while dancing so your physical fitness and familiarity with learning basic dance steps are quite important. Meeting or speaking before class, will help establish if being a dance-volunteer is the right match for you.
My name is Miriam and I’ll be the instructor for the class/study. If you are interested or have questions, please email me on FB or dancevolunteertoronto@gmail.com or danceFIT danceABILITIES Canada, also on Facebook. Please also forward widely to Toronto’s professional and dance enthusiast community.
Program Details:
Dates: Mondays and Weds, Starting May 2nd
Class time: 11am-12 noon (volunteers arrive by 10:50)
Location: U of T Physical Therapy, 500 University Avenue
Subway: Queen Subway station.
Parking: Reasonable street parking, $2/hr on Beverly
Info Links:U of T http://www.physicaltherapy.utoronto.ca/
PT, Dr. Kara Patterson: http://www.canadianstroke.ca/en/research/funding/
http://www.physicaltherapy.utoronto.ca/facul…/kara-patterson
Music, Dr. Grahn: http://www.jessicagrahn.com/
Miriam Schacter: http://www.danceabilities.ca
Jennifer Wong, Research Coordinator, Mobility Research Team
Information about the research study:
Stroke can drastically impact the ability to walk and keep your balance which in turn can limit a person’s independence, their ability to participate in favourite activities and decrease their quality of life. Unfortunately, although balance and walking improve with rehabilitation, people still find difficult to move and get around when they are discharged home. Living with a stroke after rehabilitation continues to be a challenge. People with stroke note that they feel socially isolated once they are home. Also, people with stroke become less satisfied with how they walk and balance over time. Clearly new and better treatments for walking and balance are needed.
Our team will investigate if a dance program for a group of individuals with stroke is feasible. This dance program will involve a variety of dance types (e.g. contemporary, contra, salsa, waltz, jazz, improvisation) and music genres (e.g. Latin, jazz, world, pop) plus music requests by the dancers.
We test participants before and after the dance program on balance, walking and musicality. If the people with stroke enjoy the dance program, are able to complete it and show some improvements in walking and balance, then dancing could be used in the future as a way to improve walking and balance and for social engagement.
What volunteers do:
Volunteers are asked to assist students or the instructor or watch for safe movement in the space. Some students may require some minimal physical assistance to maintain their balance, so some physical fitness and familiarity with basic dance technique is required.
10-Week Program Dates
Please let Miriam know how many dates you would like to attend/volunteer and your dance, fitness or healthcare background (if applicable):
Monday, May 2
Wednesday, May 4
Monday, May 9
Wednesday, May 11
Monday, May 16
Wednesday, May 18
Monday, May 23 No class (Victoria Day)
Wednesday, May 25
Monday, May 30
Wednesday, June 1
Monday, June 6
Wednesday, June 8
Monday, June 13
Wednesday, June 15
Monday, June 20
Wednesday, June 22
Monday, June 27
Wednesday, June 29
Monday, July 4
Wednesday, July 6
Monday, July 11 Graduation
Principal Investigator: DR. KARA PATTERSON, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute University Health Network; Co-investigator: Dr. Dina Brooks (University of Toronto); Music and Neuroscience Lab UWO: Dr. Jessica Grahn; Dance Instruction: Miriam Schacter, founder danceABILTIES™; Research Coordinator, Mobility Research Team, Jennifer Wong
DMTO 