Dance classes prove best way to keep elderly on their feet

ELDERLY people who are unsteady on their feet should take dance classes to help stop them falling, the NHS has recommended.

The advice comes as early evidence suggests that a Dance to Health programme – which is still in its infancy – is more successful than NHS services.

The programme, run by Arts Enterprise with a Social Purpose (Aesop), was proved a hit, after a pilot scheme was rolled out in six regions.

Doctors have been recommending the classes to patients, and Karen Hamilton, who heads the programme, said they were aiming to make it a formal service that could be prescribed by GPs.

“There are so many benefits to these classes. Their success shows how the arts can provide successful antidotes to health problems,” she said.

Earlier this month, the Local Government Association warned that the number of fall-related hospital admissions among older people had risen by nine per cent over four years. It predicted that the number of admissions due to falls would rise to almost 1,000 a day by the end of the decade.

In a bid to counter the problem, the NHS developed two evidence-based programmes to improve stability and reduce the risk of falls, and data suggested they did by up to 55 per cent.

However, participants found such courses less than inspiring, with only 31 per cent attending for six months.

The Dance to Health programme, which last year received £2million in grants, achieved a 73 per cent sixmonth attendance rate.