Dance Seniors Away from Falls

Almost any physical activity improves the welfare of almost any exerciser. But dancing is especially helpful for older adults, according to an analysis at University of Zurich and Harvard University.
     Not all dancing. The activity in the 29 studies analyzed had the seniors move while standing, with their movements choreographed to fit a rhythm such as music or the dancer’s own breathing. This includes ballroom dancing, folk dancing, aerobic dance, and tai chi. It did not include yoga that was confined to static body postures.
     The distinctive advantage for older adults of such activities is that they were found to reduce the risk of falls by nearly 40%. The researchers note how each year, about a third of community-dwelling adults who are at least 65 years old experience a fall, and about a third of those falls result in medical attention. A serious fracture in a senior often begins a progression toward death.
     In the studies analyzed, greater benefits were achieved from programs that met at least three times per week and lasted at least twelve weeks. Because these dance activities are choreographed, they require mental attention, which helps maintain cognitive acuity in the senior brain. Because the activities are generally conducted with a group, or at least a dance partner, they ease loneliness in the older adult. Both these provide a means and motivation to go on living in the event of a fracture from a fall.
     The schedule of meetings, feelings of mental sharpness, and opportunities for socializing also help persuade participation. Fewer than 20% of older adults participate in a level of physical activity sufficient,  to protect against unnecessary disability. The World Health Organization has declared increasing that percentage to be a public health priority.
     A Ghent University study probed why seniors who are fully capable of moving around do no more than sit around instead. A total of fifteen studies about that topic were reviewed, covering seniors ranging in age from 63 years to 79 years in the United Kingdom, Canada, the U.S., and Belgium.
     The first overall finding was that seniors often fail to realize how much of their time they’re sitting around. Beyond this, many of the seniors said they’d slipped into the habit of being sedentary after having taken a spill. They feared another fall. Which brings us back, then, to tempting them with the fall-prevention advantages dancing offers.

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