Stories in the Moment: Dance Program for People Living with Dementia

Dance, a multi-modal activity coupling cognitive tasks with aerobic exercise and social engagement, is lauded as a non-pharmacological intervention with promising impact on brain health for older adults and people with mild cognitive impairment but is limited in wideset implementation partly by a paucity of evidence-based guidelines for people living with dementia (PLWD). The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the feasibility and benefit of virtual social engagement programs for older adults and persons living with dementia (PLWD), offering a support network from the comfort of home. The Stories in the Moment-Pilot (SIM-Pilot) Program sought to build an online creative community through dance, supporting the wellbeing of community-dwelling PLWD, while offering data-driven guidelines for future research on the role of dance in dementia care and brain health.

Building on a successful prototype of SIM delivered 2020-2021, this mixed-methods feasibility study (GBHI ALZ UK-22-865612; Clinical Trial: NCT06221202) evaluated the impact of 13-weeks of a novel online dance program, “Stories in the Moment” (SIM), on wellbeing (WHO-5 Well-being Index), loneliness (De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale), anxiety (Rating Anxiety In Dementia (RAID)) and sense of belonging of PLWD and care partners (CP) through validated clinical instruments, qualitative semi-structured participant interviews, and focus groups. The SIM dance intervention (SIM-DI) was delivered via Zoom (1hr/week) by 2 trained dance instructors, incorporating aerobic engagement, coordination/agility training, learning/recalling choreography and collaborative improvisation/dance making.  SIM-Pilot Project will maximize impact by leveraging partnerships with 3 organizations serving diverse, under-represented communities of PLWD in the US. The SIM-Pilot intends to deliver brain health education and virtual SIM classes and utilize action research methods to inform further optimization and scalability of this program. In so doing, the SIM-Pilot hopes to establish online hubs and networks of creative community, promoting brain health education, social engagement, physical activity, and creativity for diverse PLWD in the US and beyond.

Learn more about the Stories in the Moment Dance Program

The Stories in the Moment dance program is designed to promote brain health, meaningful connection and stimulate creativity among diverse people living with dementia. The program was highlighted on national and international platforms including in Frontiers of Neurology, on ABC7NY News, in the ADI World Alzheimer's Report 2023, on the Being Patient podcast and the 2024 open-access book Arts for health: Dancing. Cumulatively, since 2020, the Stories in the Moment® program, offered both in person and virtually, has served over 450 people living with dementia and MCI across NYC, the United States and internationally.

Additional media

• Watch this video to see the in person version of the program in action: 

• Read this article to learn more about the program: https://dancersgroup.org/2022/06/stories-in-the-moment/
• Visit this website to get involved with existing programs: https://dancestreamprojects.org/

Questions or seeking ways to get involved?

Are you a researcher/clinician interested in evaluating the impact of dance on brain health or among people living with dementia? Are you seeking to introduce a validated dance program for people living with dementia in your community or are you a person living with dementia/care partner seeking dance programming adapted to meet your unique needs? 

Contact Magda at magda.kaczmarska@gbhi.org to discuss research opportunities, learn about current programs and ways to bring a program to your community.