{"id":31316,"date":"2019-08-06T09:21:42","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T13:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=31316"},"modified":"2024-07-02T17:12:10","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T17:12:10","slug":"dance-chronic-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=31316","title":{"rendered":"Dance helps people manage chronic illness, Carolina students find"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a research study, a group of dancers at Carolina provided dance lessons to people struggling with diabetes. Their findings led them to launch a student organization offering dance workshops and social support to anyone struggling with a chronic illness.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Maebelle
Maebelle Mathew, center, performs with Chalkaa, a Bollywood-Fusion dance team at Carolina.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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As a first-year at Carolina, Maebelle Mathew joined a student Bollywood-fusion dance group to help connect with her Indian roots and continue the sport she\u2019d loved since childhood.<\/p>\n

She never imagined that dance would become a part of her academic journey, let alone the focus of her very own research project.<\/p>\n

But then Mathew found the Health and Humanities Interdisciplinary Venue for Exploration \u2014 more commonly known as the HHIVE<\/a> lab \u2014 and developed an idea that would grow her passion for dance into something much bigger.<\/p>\n

At HHIVE, Mathew met Jordynn Jack, a professor of English and comparative literature in the College of Arts & Sciences who was conducting a study called Writing Diabetes. The study invited diabetes patients to tell their stories of living with chronic illness. When Mathew volunteered to read their narratives, she noticed a pattern.<\/p>\n

\u201cA solid number of the participants struggled with their body image or felt out of touch with their bodies in some way,\u201d said Matthew, who was a Chancellor\u2019s Science Scholar<\/a> at Carolina. \u201cDance has helped me gain confidence in myself, so I wondered if maybe it could have a positive impact on people with diabetes too. I just decided I was going to bring that idea to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

She wrote a research proposal and recruited friends from her dance group Chalkaa to help coordinate eight weeks of dance workshops at a local senior center. With financial support from the Office for Undergraduate Research<\/a>, the team offered lessons in contemporary dance, Latin, Bollywood and Zumba for people with diabetes.<\/p>\n

\u201cReading those narratives from Writing Diabetes showed a lot about their interactions with the healthcare system and how they viewed themselves and their illness,\u201d said Akhila Boyina, a recent graduate in psychology who co-led the study. \u201cWe really wanted to look at dance as a different kind of intervention for health physically and psychologically.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Boyina, the impact was clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t even a subtle change,\u201d she said. \u201cYou could see that the way they were dancing was more unapologetic and free. A couple of the participants shared with us that they have to constantly control their diet, control their exercise, check on their sugar, so they have to think about their bodies in this sort of burdensome way. But through this workshop, they saw their bodies be able to accomplish something new. My heart was really full that day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the study was small, the results were promising. By the end of the eight weeks, participants reported an increase in self-esteem and coping ability, and some even saw their glucose levels decrease.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was one interview that really struck me, where the participant said that before doing this study, she felt really out of touch with her body,\u201d said Jack, who served as the study\u2019s faculty lead. \u201cSomeone would touch her foot, and she wouldn\u2019t even really feel it. And she noticed that through dance she was able to have better connection with her body in a sensory way. That\u2019s one of the things that dance really teaches you, and there\u2019s something to be said for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Mathew, Boyina and the rest of their team members graduated in May, they\u2019re not done with Carolina yet. With Jack\u2019s support, they\u2019re launching a student organization at UNC-Chapel Hill<\/a> to offer dance workshops and social support to anyone struggling with a chronic illness.<\/p>\n

While Boyina is headed to medical school, she remains connected to the project, and Mathew has spent her summer rallying dancers in the Carolina community, booking spaces and identifying teachers to help the organization grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunities all of us had to conceive a project and see it through, I don\u2019t think a lot of people have that opportunity, so it was a really valuable experience for us,\u201d Mathew said. \u201cBut seeing how much of an impact the study had on our participants, we decided we wanted it to be something that lives on \u2014 something more permanent.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Emilie Poplett, University Communications<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a research study, a group of dancers at Carolina provided dance lessons to people struggling with diabetes. Their findings led them to launch a student organization offering dance workshops and social support to anyone struggling with a chronic 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