Social DanCER: Social Dance and Community Engagement Research, the role of dance in chronic pain management

Abstract

The global prevalence of chronic pain is estimated to affect 10-30% of individuals, with 10% of the pain population being newly diagnosed with of chronic pain yearly. Chronic pain affects the individual on a biological, psychological, social, and financial level. As pain develops into chronicity, current pain management practices face issues relating to marginal pain improvement, long waitlists, prolonged opioid use, inaccessibility, costs, and poor program adherence. To meet these issues, this thesis proposes dance as an adjunct modality to assist in chronic pain management for individuals experiencing any type of pain for longer than three months. Dance has been explored as a modality to improve a number of health conditions, with benefits for biological, psychological, and social health. This thesis found dance also to benefit pain across a number of chronic pain conditions. However, because the use of dance for chronic pain management is a novel idea, the development of participant-informed studies in this thesis has emphasised the considerations and preferences of individuals experiencing chronic pain and dance teachers regarding a dance for chronic pain program. This culminated in a recommendation framework for future dance for chronic pain programs. The feasibility of this framework combined with ongoing participant input was assessed through a pilot study that highlighted considerations for future program recruitment and design. As such, this thesis has begun to address the knowledge and practical gaps in the design and implementation of dance for chronic pain and builds the foundation of program recommendations and considerations for key stakeholders. This thesis ends by offering future direction for researchers, individuals experiencing chronic pain, dance teachers, health professionals, and society, highlighting the role each plays in translating this research to a greater audience and promoting the growth of dance for chronic pain.