Using dance to help reduce falls

Having fun at a dance to health class PNL-161202-114231001

Over-60s are benefiting from a pioneering new project aimed at reducing falls by getting them dancing.

Dance to Health is a pilot falls prevention dance programme for the over-60s that’s being piloted in just six UK venues – including Banbury.

Falls are traumatic for older people and cost the NHS £2.3 billion a year but few people attend the usual falls prevention programmes, which have been dubbed “dull as ditchwater” by a Royal College of Physicians expert.

Dance to Health combines recognised falls prevention programmes with the creativity, expression and energy of dance to reduce falls by up to 55 per cent.

The twice-weekly classes are being piloted at Banbury Health & Wellbeing Centre and so far participants have seen life-enhancing results.

For more information, see www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/banbury-health-and-wellbeing-centre or call 01295 263366.