Designing an intergenerational Dance for Health programme: Perspectives from younger and older urban Swiss adults

Dance for Health programmes have shown promise in supporting the wellbeing of older adults. Yet to fully capitalise upon the value of such programmes for community members, rich opportunities exist to develop participant-tailored classes and to incorporate intergenerational interactions. Here, we took a qualitative approach to gain a deeper understanding of urban Swiss older and younger adults’ expectations and desires for an intergenerational dance programme to support various components of psychosocial and physical wellbeing. Focus group members (N = 21; 15 older adults: 76.13 ± 4.12 years, 6 younger adults: 23.83 ± 3.06 years) engaged in a guided discussion about design elements of such a programme. The discussion focussed on themes related to wellbeing, dance class elements, programme logistics, social interactions, and potential barriers to participation. We used deductive and inductive techniques to analyse the discussions. Deductively, we evaluated 11 concrete design elements (class size, class length/frequency, total duration, location, facility, time/days, dance style, music type, learning materials, advertising, social interactions). Inductively, we identified a central theme of ‘Feeding the Soul’, characterising focus group members’ emphasis on the value of a positive peer group dynamic, a supportive learning environment, personal wellbeing, and inclusivity. Overall, focus group members expressed a preference for activities that offer psychosocial fulfilment. These insights provide concrete and conceptual elements to incorporate when designing future Dance for Health programmes, particularly for this population.