The dance classes bringing 'joy' to a hospital

A hospital ward is not always thought of as a place of joy, but that is exactly what Sadie Hunt and Jenny Howells are trying to achieve.

For more than a year the duo have run Dance for Health classes at Bedford Hospital.

What started off as a pilot on two frailty wards of older patients, is now expanding to a 30-week programme, and will be offered to cancer patients and children.

So what do they, the patients and the hospital get from it?

Hunt, 47, a freelance Dance for Health practitioner, who runs the classes, says this will be the fourth time the project has been extended, having previously received funding from the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Charity, then Sport England and Friends of Bedford Hospital.

"We're now going to be working with children, which we're really, really excited about," she says.

"A hospital ward doesn't stop being a hospital ward because you're dancing on it; we're very conscious of not being in the way.

"Staff say to us that actually once we've gone, everybody's in such a better mood or they're so much easier to work with.

"One of my favourite things is when people say, 'Oh no, dancing isn't for me' or 'I'm not up to it.'

"Then one or two people on the bay will give it a go and nine times out of 10, everybody's joined in.

"Sometimes people only have one perception of what dance might be but it's using actions that they might use in physio sessions.

"We had one lady who said 'I thought I was going to be really embarrassed, but I wasn't – I absolutely loved it.'"

Others say it is "very worthwhile" and that they feel "totally uplifted", she says.

Another told her: "This is the first time I have felt like myself since I have been here. We need this every day."

Hunt says: "When you're in hospital, you're bored, you're fed up, you're feeling very poorly.

"So having 15 minutes or half an hour of music, it's something that uplifts you.

"I also see visitors seeing their loved one who's been very poorly, smile and engage."

A lot of upper body movement is involved, she says.

"Some people say 'My shoulders feel about three inches lower' or they have a little bit more mobility.

"It's about relaxation, joy, fun, muscular release and tension release.

"There's a shared sense of belonging. It's a way of everybody on the bay being able to come together and feel that sense of togetherness.

"I think it just shifts the ward from feeling like a very clinical space into feeling like a more human and artistic space."

Howells, 35, says: "I value seeing the role that dance and the creative arts can play within a healthy context, supporting physical health but also impacting mood, wellbeing and building community.

"We have seen benefits to their physical health, with some patients sharing that their pain reduced or ceased whilst dancing and sharing that their joints felt looser or easier to move.

"Several individuals have said that the atmosphere of the ward has felt different in response."

Keely Birch, prevention of deconditioning lead at the hospital, says: "We are aware that patients' mental health can be impacted by prolonged hospital stay, resulting in high levels of boredom, isolation and low mood.

"This project has shown that creative health has a well-deserved place in the acute setting, with patients who have taken part reporting they feel it has value as part of their hospital stay."

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