Use of Adapted Dance to Intensify Subacute Rehabilitation Post-Stroke: A Qualitative Study on the Participation...

Strategies are still needed to intensify stroke rehabilitation. As an alternative therapy, dance warrants examination since its multimodal nature appears to offer an enjoyable means of engaging in a rehabilitation activity.

(1) To describe the participation experience in an adapted-dance group intervention, and (2) to study the patients' active participation time.

In this embedded single-case study, the experience of participating patients, relatives and rehabilitation assistants was examined through semi-structured interviews. The verbatim transcripts underwent thematic analysis (qualitative method), while the patients' active participation time was examined through audiovisual recordings analyzed by type and length of engagement time (quasi-qualitative method).

The study was conducted in the neurology department of a rehabilitation hospital.

The study included patients doing intensive functional rehabilitation post-stroke (≤25 days) (n = 6), relatives (n=4) and rehabilitation assistants (n = 4). Patients were recruited irrespective of their neurologic impairments. Their mean age was 71.0 years ± 9.9 years (range 59 to 86 years).

An adapted-dance group intervention ranging from moderate to somewhat hard/hard intensity was added to their rehabilitation program in the form of biweekly sessions of 55 minutes each, for up to 10 weeks. Carried out mainly on chairs, the intervention borrowed from dance approaches, rehabilitation practices, and movement-based educational approaches.

Observed adherence reached 82%. The participation experience involved 3 types of participation incentives (what motivated, fostered and facilitated their participation) and 4 types of perceived effort (unconscious, self-regulated, feasible and appropriate) conducive to participation. Mean motor engagement time of 50 minutes 4 seconds/session ± 2.53 minutes was observed in patients.

The use of an adapted-dance group intervention can contribute to the intensification of stroke rehabilitation and have a positive impact on motivation and perceived effort.