Overview
The goal of this interventional study is to examine the dose-response effect of Community Dance Programme (CDP) on the physical, cognitive and psychological health of pre-frail and mildly frail community-dwelling older adults. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Hypothesis 1: Two sessions of CDP per week (75 minutes each) significantly increase the physical outcomes (i.e. CFS, EFS, SPPB, grip strength) of community-dwelling older adults as compared to one session of CDP per week.
Hypothesis 2: Two sessions of CDP per week significantly improve the cognitive outcomes (i.e. MoCA, SDMT) of community-dwelling older adults as compared to one session of CDP per week.
Hypothesis 3: Two sessions of CDP per week significantly improve the psychosocial outcomes (i.e. WHOQOL-OLD, De Jong Giervald Loneliness Scale, GPIC scale, SHS, SSQ) of community-dwelling older adults as compared to one session of CDP per week.
Intervention: The participants will be asked to attend two sessions of CDP per week for 12 weeks at their respective Active Ageing Centres (AACs).
Active control: The participants will be asked to attend one session of CDP per week for 12 weeks AACs.
- The participants will be asked to go to the AACs at baseline and after 12 weeks of CDP intervention for the collection of data.
- The participants will be asked to wear fitness trackers to track their heart rates during the CDP sessions to ensure that the dance curriculum is kept within the moderate intensity.
Description
Dance interventions have been shown beneficial for older adults, such as improving their physical health, cognitive function, as well as their psychosocial and emotional well-being by ameliorating depression, anxiety, and social isolation. A pilot study (NUS-IRB-2020-808) showed that those in the dancing group reported significantly higher quality of life (p=0.044). The qualitative findings provided insights that older adults enjoyed participating in the creatively crafted dance programme, while learning nature and world travel-based dance movements. Thus, this study aims to use data derived from the pilot study to design and conduct a definitive study to define the dose-response effect that a systematic dance programme may have on physical, cognitive, and psycho-social health in our local aging population.
A cluster-randomised trial with a co-design approach and process, evaluation will be applied. A qualitative approach with in-depth, face-to-face, focused group discussions (FGDs-needs assessment) will be conducted for stakeholders (older adults, AAC staff, and dance instructors) to understand their needs (e.g., factors promoting dance, measures to overcome common side effects of dance, social-cultural considerations) and seek their opinions further to develop the Community Dance Programme (CDP). CDP will be developed following the WHO ICOPE's guidelines and validated by a panel of multi-disciplinary experts. The participants will be randomly separated into 2 clusters: Intervention Clusters (2 sessions/week and 75 minutes/session) and Active Control Clusters (1 session/week and 1 hour/session). The interventional face to face sessions will be supported by instructional dance videos which allows the seniors to practice the dance on their own time.
12 weeks of dance sessions will be conducted. Objective assessments and self-reported questionnaires will be used pre and post-CDP. Outcome measures will include physical health (Short Physical Performance Battery, Edmonton Frailty Scale, biomarkers), cognitive function (Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Symbol Digit Modalities Test), psychosocial health (Geriatric Depression Scale, de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale, Social Support Questionnaire), and quality of life (WHOQOL).
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- Aged 60 to 85.
- Able to understand and communicate in either English or Mandarin.
- Able to give consent to participate.
- Able to commit for three months and able to achieve at least an attendance rate of 75% for the dance program.
- Lives within the community setting.
- Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT) score>= 8
- Obtain a score of less than or equal to 7 in Edmonton Frail Scale - Acute Care or less than or equal to 5 in Clinical Frailty Scale
- Able to ambulate with minimal assistance
- Willing to avoid other physical exercise during the interventional period.
- Consent to video and photography of the dance sessions and audio recording of the FGDs.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT) score of less than 8.
- A score of more than 7 on the Edmonton Frail Scale - Acute Care or a score of more than 5 on Clinical Frailty Scale
- Diagnosed with severe cognitive or psychiatric disorders.
- Have severe hearing or vision impairments
- Have medical conditions which results in limitation of dancing (e.g. walking aids, wheelchair etc.)
- Older adults with serious chronic diseases (e.g. postural hypotension etc.)
- Registered in any other dance group during the intervention period