Dance and dementia doctor moves to the world wide web

Leading UK specialist in dance movement psychotherapy, Dr Richard Coaten, hosted a special webinar broadcast in over 20 countries across the world this week.

Dr Coaten founded South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s Centre of Excellence in movement, dance and dementia, which aims to equip health professionals working in dementia care with the knowledge and skills to explore the use of movement and dance.

He presented a seminar called ‘Movement, dance and the neurodegenerative condition’ with the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) on Tuesday 5 July. Along with Dr Sara Houston from the University of Roehampton, he covered topics such as how and why movement and dance are so important to people with dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

He also spoke about the potential for practitioners in the fields of dementia and Parkinson’s to learn from each other.

Dr Coaten said: “The webinar went really well and it was brilliant to cover this topic on a world stage. There were 250 people registered for the webinar in 24 countries around the world. It was great international exposure for the work we do and the Trust’s reputation and standing in the field of movement, dance and dementia.”

To find out more about the Centre of Excellence, visit www.dancedementiahub.co.uk. For a copy of the presentation, contact Richard.