Dance on: a mixed-method study into the feasibility and effectiveness of a dance programme to increase physical activity levels and wellbeing in adults and older adults.

Background: Physical activity (PA) has beneficial effects on physical and mental health outcomes in older adults. However, a consistent decline in PA participation has been noted with increasing age, with older adults consistently being reported as the least physically active population. Previous evidence showed that dance is an appropriate form of PA in older adults as it integrates the body's movement with physical, cognitive, and social elements.

The effect of task symmetry on bimanual reach-to-grasp movements after cervical spinal cord injury.

Injury to the cervical spinal cord results in deficits in bimanual control, reducing functional independence and quality of life. Despite this, little research has investigated the control strategies which underpin bimanual arm/hand movements following cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI). Using kinematics and surface electromyography this study explored how task symmetry affects bimanual control, in patients with an acute cSCI (< 6 m post injury), as they performed naturalistic bimanual reach-to-grasp actions (to objects at 50% and 70% of their maximal reach distance), and how this differs compared to uninjured age-matched controls.

Dancing in time: feasibility and acceptability of a contemporary dance programme to modify risk factors for falling in community dwelling older adults.

Background: Falls are a common cause of injury in older adults, with the prevention of falls being a priority for public health departments around the world. This study investigated the feasibility, and impact of an 8 week contemporary dance programme on modifiable physical (physical activity status, mobility, sedentary behaviour patterns) and psychosocial (depressive state, fear of falling) risk factors for falls.

Methods: An uncontrolled 'pre-post' intervention design was used.

Bimanual reach to grasp movements after cervical spinal cord injury.

Injury to the cervical spinal cord results in bilateral deficits in arm/hand function reducing functional independence and quality of life. To date little research has been undertaken to investigate control strategies of arm/hand movements following cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI). This study aimed to investigate unimanual and bimanual coordination in patients with acute cSCI using 3D kinematic analysis as they performed naturalistic reach to grasp actions with one hand, or with both hands together (symmetrical task), and compare this to the movement patterns of uninjured younger and older adults.