Ballroom provides dance class for seniors with dementia

In Nevada, USA, a Ballroom has a dance class specifically designed for elderly people with dementia. The “Dance With Me” program is the result of a partnership between The Ballroom of Reno and the Dementia Friendly Washoe County and focuses on engaging “people living with early onset dementia and their caregivers with the joy of dance, as well as helping them fight the effects of dementia”. The dance class took place once a week and was free to all participants.

June Crouch, a representative from the Ballroom, explains that “All of this improves the learning in your brain and it helps to grow those new neural pathways”.

Donna Brown, one of the students in the class, attends with her husband Ron who suffers from Alzheimer’s. She says the benefits are undeniable: “It changes everyone’s personality. Everyone is very subdued when they come in, and the minute the music starts, everyone is happy. Everyone is having a good time. So it’s like you just put an hour of the disease behind.”

Desiree Reid, one of the ballroom instructors, says that the dance class has also been an important tool in helping to bring the seniors out of isolation, because physical touch “It’s how we relate. It’s why a hug feels good. So we are able to use our hands and connect with people.”

Read more: https://pop.inquirer.net/86635/dance-class-brings-elderly-with-dementia-...

More info: https://www.theballroomofreno.org/single-post/2020/01/30/dance-with-me-t...

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