
Hospital Programme
Although some patients may only come into contact with the dance artists on one occasion due to discharge from hospital, these performances and workshops have the potential to ignite or reignite a person’s interest in the arts and therefore encourage further engagement on discharge from hospital.
Performances
Dance artists also visit the older peoples’ and paediatric wards to provide intimate performances within the bays. These performances are welcomed by patients, visitors and staff alike, lifting the atmosphere in the ward, and providing a creative break.

“[The performance] brought a smile to the patients faces, made them more alert, sleeping less during day”
“In my 10 years in this hospital, this is the nicest thing I have seen. It was really unexpected!”
Renal patient
Participatory
Dance can also be used as a rehabilitation tool, complimenting the work of the therapies team in preparing the patient for discharge from hospital. This can include dance movements that will aid patients in day to day tasks, such as using mudras to articulate the joints of the fingers and wrists, which may help with making a cup of tea, opening a cupboard, or holding a pen.
Akademi continues to expand this work, and advocate for dance to be embedded into the healthcare system, for both prevention and management of chronic conditions.
“Patients from my observation, enjoyed the music and the dancing moves. It was heartfelt to see them smiling, laughing and enjoying themselves.”


Learning and Participation enquiries
Contact Claire Farmer