The Effects of a Dance and Music-Based Intervention on Parkinson’s Patients’ Well-Being: An Interview Study

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 19; no. 12; p. 7519
• Main Authors: Colombo, Barbara, Rigby, Alison, Gnerre, Martina, Biassoni, Federica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 20.06.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Chronic illnesses; Content analysis; Dance; Dance therapy; Emotions; Intervention; Interviews; Investigations; Music; Parkinson's disease; Patients; Performing arts; Qualitative research; Quality of life; Signs and symptoms; Social factors; Social interaction; Software; Text analysis; Well being
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19127519

Previous research has shown the positive effects of music and dance-based interventions on the physical and psychosocial symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The aims of this study were: (1) to investigate how PD patients subjectively perceive the emotional, cognitive, and social benefits of a music- and dance-based intervention; (2) to apply an innovative methodology for an interview analysis combining findings from a linguistic text with an analytic approach and conducted with the software LIWC and from the content analysis performed by human coders. Extensive, open-ended interviews were conducted with 13 patients with PD who had participated in a dance and music program. The interviews were analyzed using both human coders and the computer-based approach. The results show that emotional and social aspects are considered the most frequent perceived benefits of the dance program. The data confirm the positive impact of dance- and music-based programs on promoting participants’ emotional and social well-being. A combined approach to text analysis appears to be a promising way to achieve more in-depth insights into patients’ subjective perceptions.