The purpose of this study was to develop a Qi dance therapy program geared toward improving the gait and balance of elderly people with mild dementia by incorporating breathing and mild-will into Korean dance movement, and to examine its effect on the...
The purpose of this study was to develop a Qi dance therapy program geared toward improving the gait and balance of elderly people with mild dementia by incorporating breathing and mild-will into Korean dance movement, and to examine its effect on their gait and balance. The subjects in this study were 14 senior citizens who suffered from mild dementia. After they were divided into an experimental group and a control group, the experimental group participated in a Qi dance program during an eight-week period of time, three times a week, 45 minutes each, and the control group didn't take part in any exercise program.
There were four different stages in the Qi dance therapy program: introduction, development, wrapping-up and awakening. The first three stages respectively consisted of warm-up, sedentary/standing Qi dance, cooling-down, and in the fourth stage, they talked to each other about how they felt about the program.
The general characteristics of the senior citizens and their gait and balance were checked by an assistant researcher before and after the program. To evaluate the effect of the program, their gait length and gait speed were measured to find out their walking ability, and their balance was assessed by conducting an open eyes foot balance test, closed eyes foot balance test, get up and go test and tandem gait test.
The collected data were analyzed with a SPSS 12.0 program. Statistical data on real number and percentage were obtained to grasp the general characteristics of the participants, and t-test and Chi-square test were utilized to see if the two groups were equivalent before the program was applied. Paired t-test and independent t-test were carried out to look for any possible intragroup and intergroup changes to verify the hypotheses of the study.
After the eight-week program was completed, the following findings were given:
First, there was a decrease in the gait length and gait speed of the experimental group, and no significant intergroup gaps were found when the two groups were compared.
Second, there was an increase in the time for open eyes foot balance in the experimental group, and no significant intergroup gaps were found when the two groups were compared.
Third, there was an increase in the time for closed eyes left foot balance in the experimental group, and a significant intergroup gap was found when the two groups were compared(p<.01).
Fourth, there was an increase in the time for closed eyes right foot balance in the experimental group, and a significant intergroup gap was found when the two groups were compared(p<.05).
Fifth, there was a reduction in the get up and go time in the experimental group, and a significant intergroup gap was found when the two groups were compared(p<.01).
Sixth, there was a reduction in the tandem gait time of the experimental group, and a significant gap was found when the two groups were compared(p<.05).
The above-mentioned findings suggested that the Qi dance therapy that incorporated breathing and mind-will into Korean dance movement turned out to improve the balance of the elderly people with mild dementia but had no impact on their gait. Therefore the Qi dance therapy had a better effect on the balance of the elderly people with mild dementia than their gait.