Templederry student Joanne Shanahan was recently awarded a PhD in Philosophy from the University Limerick after she completed a thesis on Parkinson's disease.
A past pupil of St Joseph's College, Borrisoleigh, Joanne of Gurteen, Templederry, titled her thesis: 'Dancing for fun, Dancing for health, getting active: Increasing quality of life for people with Parkinson’s disease'.
In summarising her thesis, Joanne pointed out that the benefits of exercise for people with Parkinson’s disease are well established. But many people do not get enough exercise or dislike the exercise options available to them.
Set dancing has a rich cultural heritage in Ireland and is a popular social and cultural activity. Little is known about the benefits of set dancing for people with Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, the aim of Joanne's project was to investigate the feasibility and benefit of Irish set dancing for people with Parkinson’s disease in Ireland.
Her research involved inviting people with Parkinson’s disease to participate in eight weeks of set dancing classes. The aim of this was to determine the feasibility of set dancing for people with Parkinson’s disease. Participants were assessed before and after the eight weeks of set dancing classes. The results found the set dancing classes offered were safe and enjoyable, and improvements in quality of life and motor function were identified.
In order to better understand the potential benefits of set dancing for people with Parkinson’s disease in Ireland, a small randomised controlled trial was conducted. In this study, participants were randomly allocated to one of two groups.
One group continued with their usual care and participated in 10 weeks of set dancing classes. The other group continued with their usual care only. Again, participants were assessed at the start and end of the study. The results of this study also identified important information to inform the methods of larger projects.
A major part of this research involved developing an educational resource for set dancing teachers teaching set dancing to people with Parkinson’s disease in their local communities. The resource: 'Set dancing for people with Parkinson’s disease: an information resource for Irish set dancing teachers', is freely available and can be accessed through the University of Limerick Institutional Repository.
“This project gave me great satisfaction as I got the opportunity to involve people with Parkinson’s disease and their families in a fun and social activity,” Joanne said.
“Delivering the set dancing classes was thoroughly enjoyable as I observed people dancing, laughing and enjoying the social company. For this research to be meaningful, it must impact the lives of people with Parkinson’s disease. Moving forward, it is important to ensure that set dancing teachers have access to the educational resource and sufficient help available to help them deliver set dancing classes to people with Parkinson’s disease.”
http://www.nenaghguardian.ie/news/roundup/articles/2017/01/28/4133894-templederry-student-writes-thesis-on-parkinsons-disease/
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