Page 153 - Petelin, Ana, Nejc Šarabon, eds. 2018. Zdravje starostnikov ▪︎ Health of the Elderly. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo ▪︎ Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press
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ce and Exercise as Therapy in Patient with Parkinson’s posterji | poster presentations
Disease – Case Study
Kristina Drole, Petra Zaletel
University of Ljubljana Faculty of Sport, Gortanova ulica 22, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction: Dance has been used as therapy for different medical conditions
– physical and mental – for a number of years. The purpose of this study was to
find out how dance and exercise influence body posture and certain motor and
cognitive functions in a patient with Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Methods: The subject of the study was a 74-year-old man with PD. The da-
ta was collected with PDQ-39 and a questionnaire about health, which was
composed on the basis of literature on PD. We used standard balance tests,
attention, memory and functional tests and postural assessment. The work-
outs were scheduled two times per week for 8 weeks. The length of a sin-
gle session was 1.5 hours. Each session consisted of a seated warmup with el-
ements of contemporary dance and ballet, stretching exercises for shortened
and overworked muscle groups and strength exercises for weak muscles. The
dance part included dance moves that were systematically upgraded to the
point where the subject was able to perform three Standard dances at the end
of the program.
Results: We noticed improvements in all tests. The biggest improvement was
made in body posture, attention span and memory. The subject also pointed
out better overall feeling and less tiredness.
Discussion and conclusions: Dance and exercise therapy turned out to be an ef-
ficient asset to improve motor and cognitive functions. Stretching and strength
exercises that improve body posture and decrease muscle rigidity also seem to
be very effective in patients with PD.
Keywords: Parkinson's disease, dance therapy, health, physical activity,
exercise
151
Disease – Case Study
Kristina Drole, Petra Zaletel
University of Ljubljana Faculty of Sport, Gortanova ulica 22, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction: Dance has been used as therapy for different medical conditions
– physical and mental – for a number of years. The purpose of this study was to
find out how dance and exercise influence body posture and certain motor and
cognitive functions in a patient with Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Methods: The subject of the study was a 74-year-old man with PD. The da-
ta was collected with PDQ-39 and a questionnaire about health, which was
composed on the basis of literature on PD. We used standard balance tests,
attention, memory and functional tests and postural assessment. The work-
outs were scheduled two times per week for 8 weeks. The length of a sin-
gle session was 1.5 hours. Each session consisted of a seated warmup with el-
ements of contemporary dance and ballet, stretching exercises for shortened
and overworked muscle groups and strength exercises for weak muscles. The
dance part included dance moves that were systematically upgraded to the
point where the subject was able to perform three Standard dances at the end
of the program.
Results: We noticed improvements in all tests. The biggest improvement was
made in body posture, attention span and memory. The subject also pointed
out better overall feeling and less tiredness.
Discussion and conclusions: Dance and exercise therapy turned out to be an ef-
ficient asset to improve motor and cognitive functions. Stretching and strength
exercises that improve body posture and decrease muscle rigidity also seem to
be very effective in patients with PD.
Keywords: Parkinson's disease, dance therapy, health, physical activity,
exercise
151
