Aviva Community Fund provided £1,999 of match funding
Using VR & Dance as rehab for neurodisabled people
Colchester, England, United Kingdom
Aim
Virtual Reality Dance Rehab will enable neurodisabled people with Parkinson’s/MS to move better & bigger with wellbeing benefits to boot.
Telling real life differently
CoDa Dance Company is a unique contemporary dance company specialising in dance and neurology. We deliver dance as a physiotherapy tool for neurodisabled people in hospitals and community settings, giving people joyful and meaningful experiences that inspire creativity and curiosity.
CoDa have delivered invaluable dance for health work throughout the South East since 2013, providing vital movement rehabilitation for people with MS, Acquired Brain Injury and other neurological disabilities. People leave our sessions feeling more positive, mobile, and confident, as well as more connected socially.
Regular dance classes can enhance fluidity of movement, develop postural stability, flexibility of the spine and improve balance. They can also help develop confidence and provide the opportunity for creativity and self-expression, whilst also temporarily relieving some participants of symptoms in everyday life.
Our Project - Virtual Reality Dance Rehab
We want to pilot a new approach to delivering our tried and tested Dance Rehab workshops for neurodisabled people (with Parkinson’s & MS) in London and the South East. By purchasing and integrating innovative Virtual Reality technology into dance rehab workshops, we will provide greater health benefits and social connections to participants in community and hospital settings who experience limited movement, cognition and communication. Academic research into the impacts will lever funds to grow future delivery.
In our Dance Rehab sessions, both in community and hospital settings, 100% participants report increased energy and physical mobility. Buying VR technology will enable severely disabled participants to experience movement that’s physically impossible for them, facilitating rehab on a neural level. This project gives 30 participants 300 pilot workshop interactions. Research that demonstrates the impact of our new approach enables us to reach even more neurodisabled people.
Neurodisabled people faced high levels of social isolation pre-covid due to fluctuations in mobility, energy levels and carer availability. This isolation has been even more stark throughout the pandemic. VR Dance Rehab workshops create opportunities for social connection and sharing experiences and coping strategies for neurodisabled communities - participants and carers alike.
Testimonials
"I'd go mad without it. It's a social lifeline, not just for Steve but also for me."
- Anne wife of hospital participant.
“I’ll never forget how you helped me to dance. The way you helped us to use contact with each other - it was the only time of the week I was able to be touched by someone when it wasn’t to stick a needle or a catheter in me. You’ve no idea how much those sessions meant to me.”
- Theresa, participant living with Guillain-Barré syndrome
"Opportunities to engage in positive social interaction is very beneficial to our patients and to do something that is less focussed on verbal communication is important for many of our patients / residents with severe communication impairments "
- Director of Nursing, Royal Hospital for Neuro-disabilities
This project successfully funded on 16th June 2021