Dancing with your grandma for 15 minutes a week promotes positive feelings and improves her state of mind, a study says. Doctors from Israel are urging younger family members to have a regular visit to their grandmas and have a dance with their grandmas.
And they found a 15 minute boogie (布吉舞) once a week lifted the spirits of elderly family members and helped strengthen the family bond. In fact, it is called Dance Movement Therapy (DMT). DMT across the generations, complete with eye contact, was found to promote positive feelings and improve mood for the elderly.
The grandparents reported a bright state of mind, happy memories and uplifted spirits. Dancing has also previously been connected with improved muscle strength, balance and endurance (耐力). For the grandchildren in the study, the weekly boogie changed how they view ageing and allowed them to come to accept the eventual death of their elderly relative.
The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, assessed how dance affected the well-being of 16 dance movement therapists (治疗师 )and their grandmothers. Dance movement therapy was paid attention due to the fact it is easily accessible and does not cost more to practice. The researchers were eager to examine a low-cost method to treat issues commonly faced by an ageing population-such as limited mobility and depression. Grandchildren were instructed to make eye contact and encourage playfulness and touch. They were also told to mirror their grandmothers' movements and give them time and space to rest when needed.
The sessions were recorded and then analysed while diaries and interviews recorded the opinions and feelings of the participants. As well as the benefits to the health of the senior, the experiment also changed the idea of the younger family members.