Health and Well being

Young@Heart

Over recent years Dance4 has established a programme of seated creative movement sessions that offers an alternative solution to the issues around falls prevention and isolation amongst older people. The award-winning[1] Young@Heart project first established in 2005 in the village of Newstead, Nottinghamshire is a weekly dance movement session for people over 60. The sessions give participants a chance to explore different types of movements ranging from Yoga, Pilates, Salsa and Foxtrot through to more creative/contemporary styles.
 Targeted for the over 60’s, Young@Heart aims to
·       promote health, well-being and confidence among older people
·       enable residents to feel more positive about themselves and their community
·       provide creative opportunities for physical activity
·       raise awareness of the social, physical and personal benefits of dance activity 
Dance4 is working tirelessly to embed the programme into the work of local PCT’s and hope to develop it into a national model of good practice.  In order to evaluate its impact, Dance4 worked in partnership with University of Nottingham (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences) to produce an evaluation report that considers the impact on the physical and emotional development of older people when engaging in a social, creative dance programme as an advocacy tool.

photo: Tom Martin