Dance your way to health!

About the project

Community-based exercise programs can engage seniors in physical activity, which can lead to better physical fitness and less cognitive decline as they age. Danser vers la santé (Dance your way to health) aimed to expand the existing Grouille ou rouille (Move it or lose it) program – a long-standing fitness group for seniors in New Brunswick – by offering supplemental virtual fitness classes that were tailored to seniors’ needs and were available through a web-based application.  Established in 1981, Grouille ou rouille fitness instructors have travelled the province to provide weekly fitness classes to seniors at local community centres. The project evaluated participants’ overall program satisfaction as well as their physical and cognitive health before and after the 14-week program. Due to underutilization of the virtual Danser vers la santé app, only the existing Grouille ou rouille program could be evaluated.

Conclusions and lessons learned

  • The project’s primary objective was to supplement the existing Grouille ou rouille program with the virtual Danser vers la santé program. However, participants did not use the virtual program, indicating preference for in-person fitness classes.
  • Some participants refused to take part in the physical and cognitive health measures as they were unfamiliar and/or anxiety-inducing.
  • The project team emphasized the importance of integrating participants’ perspectives into project design and program development to generate meaningful outputs.
  • Low representation from males (8.9% of sample) might be explained by participants’ conversational anecdotes: certain exercises, such as dancing, may not be of interest to men.

Recommendations

  • Future studies should incorporate an information session about cognitive and physical assessments to relieve apprehension from seniors and increase their participation.
  • Based on the study outcomes, the Grouille ou rouille program could be modified to promote aerobic fitness and should place greater emphasis on flexibility and lower limb strengthening.
  • Working with community partners is recommended to facilitate participant recruitment.
  • Supporting existing programs can have greater impact than developing new programs.

To learn more read the complete project findings (PDF 153 KB)

Knowledge transfer