Dance Your Way to Health

Introduction

Jenna welcomes Dr. Grant Handrigan, professor at the Université de Moncton to talk about his long-running project Dance Your Way to Health and the upcoming results.

We’re all aging, and everyone’s talking about it!

Key Takeaways

[:41] Jenna welcomes Dr. Grant Handrigan and asks him to share how his project Dance Your Way to Health came about, four years ago, and how it was anchored with the Grouille ou Rouille community group, founded in 1981.

[5:11] Dr. Grant explains sedentary behaviour and lists the multiple benefits of regular physical activity.

[8:11] The programs’ participants were identified prior to even launching the project, Grant explains who they are, where they come from, and how many of them have participated throughout the years.

[10:44] Fredrickton and Saint-John now have the program as well as the original Moncton, Grant touches on how this happened and some other smaller communities he has had a chance to visit.

[13:07] Grant explains where the project is currently — intervention, evaluation, results — and talks about the struggles getting the project off the ground and during COVID-19.

[17:11] Grant breaks down the data points he is sharing and what information the results will include. He also talks about where the performance data was collected and how.

[20:27] The program is running on its own already, Grant explains what further steps will be taken to ensure sustainability.

[22:43] Jenna thanks Dr. Grant Handrigan for sharing how far this program has come. Thank you to all listeners!

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Project Team Biographies

Grant Handrigan: Grant Handrigan is an associate professor at the École de kinésiologie et de loisir at the Université de Moncton. He has a PhD in kinesiology from Université Laval where he was supervised by Professor Philippe Corbeil and Professor Martin Simoneau. His MSc degree is from Memorial University in exercise and work physiology where he was supervised by Dr. Fabien A. Basset. He also holds an undergraduate degree in kinesiology from Memorial University. 

Lucille Wilson: Lucille Wilson is a certified kinesiologist and owner of Kinfit50. Kinfit50 is a company that offers exercise programming for older adults in New Brunswick. Lucille Wilson obtained an Bachelor of Science (Kinesiology) from the Université de Moncton.

Mentioned in this episode

The MileAGE Podcast

Healthy Seniors Pilot Project

Grouille ou Rouille

Université du Troisième Age du Sud-Est du Québec

Lucille Wilson — KinFit50

Plain language summary

Canadian Frailty Network

New Brunswick Health Research Foundation

More about your hosts

Jenna Roddick at APPTA

Jenna Roddick on Twitter

Jenna Roddick on LinkedIn

Tweetables (edited)

“Regular physical activity maintains and extends quality of life… it decreases the risk of developing dementia, of falls and fractures and protects against a whole host of chronic illnesses.”

“We tend to focus on physical activity but there are other factors — determinants of health,  for example — that affect people’s participation.”

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