In February, Yorkshire Dance became one of 11 partners to secure over £149,000 funding from Time to Shine. This landmark programme is led by Leeds Older People’s Forum and aims to fund research projects which increase our understanding of loneliness and social isolation in older adults.

Over the next 3 years our project In Mature Company will work closely with 9 different care homes across Leeds. In each care home we will deliver a creative dance programme specially designed to improve the lives of residents with Dementia.

Hannah Robertshaw, Programmes Director, explains: “In Mature Company builds on our growing expertise in the field of dance and older people. We have worked in care homes in both Leeds and Sheffield and we can see the difference dance makes to the residents. For example, one member of staff told us that she had never seen one of the residents so engaged. Outside the sessions she never speaks but in the dance sessions she laughs, sings along to the music and remembers dance moves from her youth.

“The Time to Shine grant comes at an interesting point in our research and we’re really excited that we will be working with a Dementia Care Mapper throughout the project. Dementia Care Mapping is a tool enabling us to measure the impact of the dance sessions on resident’s levels of happiness and well-being. For the first time we will be able to explore specifically which elements of the dance programme are having a positive impact on residents with Dementia. In particular, we are really interested in the use of platonic touch, such as hand holding, within dance sessions and whether creating moments of platonic touch can help to reduce loneliness.”

In Mature Company will launch in April 2018 in 3 care homes around Leeds. For more information about the programme please contact adienivison@yorkshiredance.com