How dance improves the lives of those with Parkinson's disease

To protect the heads of football players, it might be advisable to have them occasionally practice without head protection, according to a counterintuitive new study of a successful Division I football program.

Research has shown the importance of infant-primary caregiver attachment for the future of the child's cognitive ability, emotional health, and parent relationship. Infant Mental Health Specialists and other practitioners have emphasized programs and techniques to improve this relationship, for example infant massage classes, and specifically tailored interventions.

Trauma is a growing problem for school children, particularly in the age of mass shootings. But trauma also comes from a variety of triggers, including losing a loved one, poverty, immigration status and witnessing violence. Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools has proven effective, especially for younger kids, at giving children tools to manage trauma but it has been a struggle to find funding for this program around the country.

Research has found that physical movement, such as dance, can be an affective treatment and rehabilitation for people with Parkinson’s Disease. The Dance Well Initiative brings people with Parkinson’s, as well as community members, together to stage dance performances in gallery spaces as treatment and a creative response to the surrounding art.

People with severe spinal injuries have gained some movement after having a small device implanted that sends signals to muscles that mimic communication from the brain. While further research is needed, improved capacity and nerve regeneration in subjects argues that this is an effective path to treating spinal injuries.

Theater bridges cultural divides and helps migrants cope with trauma. The Liquid Company, founded in 2013 in Catania, Italy, offers migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers who have crossed the Mediterranean a therapeutic outlet to heal and manage their emotions. The multicultural group uses the stage and creative forms of expression to share their stories of struggle, ranging from human trafficking and shipwreck to feelings of displacement and isolation. By giving young migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers a voice, the Liquid Company empowers them to create their own narrative.

Communal healing represents reparations in action. The Chicago Torture Justice Center, created in 2015 through a Chicago City Council reparations ordinance, advocates for wrongfully imprisoned Black men, as well as for victims of violence and torture at the hands of police. At the community center, area nonprofits like the Old Town School of Folk Music, lead workshops like the Freedom Songbook. The program uses protest songs as a way to encourage resiliency and healing in survivors.

Environments designed with soundscapes and visual art help to reduce anxiety and pain. In London, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has noted a marked improvement in patient experience, including decreased pain and even a reduction in the time women spent in labor, in the presence of artistic installations. Other hospitals in the UK report similar benefits.

What started as a form of therapy turned into a business venture for this group of moms. The aim was to “empower mothers through art” and now they are selling their pieces for a profit.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation is being used to treat people with treatment-resistant depression. The noninvasive procedure uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerves in the brain to improve symptoms of depression. So far 19 people have undergone the program at Brattleboro Retreat — many of which have seen improvements in their symptoms — and more than 300 treatments have been completed to date.