Dancing with Dementia: Fostering Social Inclusion and Challenging Stigma

Dance may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about caring for someone living with dementia, but the opportunity to dance has a lot to offer both the care recipient and the caregiver. Beyond the physical benefits of dance, this webinar will explore the ways in which dance fosters social-inclusion for people living with dementia, challenges stigma associated with dementia, and supports the creation of dementia-friendly communities. The session will also offer ways in which dance may be accessed by people living with dementia and their caregivers, and provide a brief demonstration of what an accessible dance opportunity can look and feel like.

Our Speaker
Rachel Bar is the Director, Research and Health at Canada’s National Ballet School (NBS). She completed her PhD in psychology at Ryerson University and her post-doctoral fellowship at Trent University’s Trent Centre for Aging & Society. As a dance artist, she has been part of the multidisciplinary team that developed Baycrest and NBS’ approach to dance programming for older adults. As a researcher, she has been involved in several projects investigating how and why older adults can benefit from accessible dance innovations, including older adults living with Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

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