People Dancing's Dance, Health & Wellbeing Network by

Finding time and efficient channels to inform and promote the activities to healthcare professionals

sianhealth — 2025-10-08 11:39:38 UTC

Colleagues who might be interested in learning how to integrate dance for breathlessness

sianhealth — 2025-10-08 11:40:08 UTC

Exchange learning, contacts, opportunities

sianhealth — 2025-10-08 11:40:53 UTC

Learning to speak the language of the health sector in order to demonstrate impact in a way that helps to broaden their understanding of the work (beyond quantitative data on functional capacity!!)

2025-10-08 11:54:05 UTC

Inconsistencies in public funding

lucy762 — 2025-10-08 11:54:13 UTC

Better moves by some areas in public health/ academia to include movement as an effective tool for positive health changes and outcomes

lucy762 — 2025-10-08 11:55:32 UTC

Increased awareness of each others work as a network helps create potential for opportunities, synergy and collaboration

lucy762 — 2025-10-08 11:58:47 UTC

Facilitate the network by creating and holding the space. I would also like to see this network having an advocacy role to champion this area of work outside of the network in the dance industry and other related sectors.

lucy762 — 2025-10-08 12:00:32 UTC

A buddy system between practitioners who do similar work in different parts of the country

2025-10-08 12:47:54 UTC

On behalf of our breakout room

2025-10-08 12:53:08 UTC

Funding, partnership building, sharing best practise across the sector, equipping dance artists with skillset, looking for opportunities to build skills and methodology

Sharing resources like books, films and case studies

2025-10-08 12:53:55 UTC

2025-10-08 12:54:36 UTC

Really great to have peoples details, what they do and where they are based to be able to personally connect to be able to share practice and ping off ideas etc

On behalf of our breakout room

2025-10-08 12:55:09 UTC

Developing sustainable contact channels across the sector and with health establishments. Continuing these conversations

2025-10-08 12:55:14 UTC

creating the connection between the funders, local authorities, gps... and the dance facilitators

catadmin — 2025-10-08 12:55:27 UTC

having shared resources like evaluation templates, ethical guidelines and funding advice would save time and strengthen everyone’s work.

2025-10-08 12:55:49 UTC

Just more publicity of the work we do - getting to the bigger wigs - and share how important work like ours is how it can make a difference to peoples lives so we can do evern more of it and touch and bring joy to

even more lives

This area of work is very broad and I think may need some clarifying/honing in on

2025-10-08 12:56:24 UTC

A well trained workforce

2025-10-08 12:56:50 UTC

New and continuing partnerships to develop research funding bids to conduct evidence-based research projects to support the practice happening and advocate for the work

ad68691 — 2025-10-08 12:57:06 UTC

Funding

2025-10-08 12:57:44 UTC

Support in funding bids.

2025-10-08 12:57:50 UTC

Funding to deliver the work we do - we are always at risk of stopping its so tough but we stay resilient. For people at the heart transport is a massive issue here: people stuggle to get to programmes and need support from local counties to support them with transport to get to activity

On behalf of our breakout room

2025-10-08 12:58:14 UTC

Connecting people - across dance and health. Letter from central organisation that aids in approaching health/funding bodies. The weight behind organisations doesn't always trickle down to independent dance artists. Getting people on the same room!

It would be great to decipher what is meant by health and wellbeing (having this same conversation with DLG's health network-would be worth having Erin Sanchez involved if she isn't already) Are we talking about the professional's wellbeing/those we work with, what health contexts i.e. working in hospitals, care homes, community settings

2025-10-08 12:59:08 UTC

2025-10-08 12:59:34 UTC

Can I share a resource that might be helpful when thinking about 'selling' what we do? It was shared with me by a colleague, and I've not had a chance to properly look at it yet, but it can apparently be helpful for working out how to describe what you do in a simpler more accessible way as it can help refine or be very clear on how to express your work:
Business model canvas - Wikipedia

Practitioner Wellbeing

2025-10-08 13:00:09 UTC

Wellbeing of practitioners...providing affordable support and mental health wellbeing for dance practitioners. We are doing difficult work, and we need to look after ourselves to be able to continue our work.

2025-10-08 13:00:14 UTC

Book list and resource share list

Connecting with other Arts and Health Network.

2025-10-08 13:00:55 UTC

Evaluation Tools that reflect benefits of the practice - reimagine the measure to not keep it so medically dull... And provide guideline how to include evaluation into the programme to make it suitable and accessible for a practictioner and participants (I would love to collaborate on creating these)

2025-10-08 13:01:46 UTC

Challenges

2025-10-08 13:08:19 UTC

Venues/orgs still recovering from covid & follow on. Freelance probs- time to attend networks, training, working across different organisations locations & timings causing burn-out. Uncertainty with some funding bodies

On behalf of our break-out group...

2025-10-08 13:08:21 UTC

Provision of existing and replicable evaluation strategies.

PD as a repository for evidence-based research outcomes that artists / practitioners can refer to when making funding applications.

Training on how to conduct effective evaluation.

Social prescribing

2025-10-08 13:09:41 UTC

A better understanding of how social prescribing works and how to highlight dance opportunities to social prescribers.

Recruitment

2025-10-08 13:10:50 UTC

Getting people to join the sessions and keep them sustainable can be challenging. especially if you are working independently of an organisation.

Limited space

2025-10-08 13:11:11 UTC

It's increasingly difficult to find affordable and appropriate space in which to hold participatory / community dance sessions.

2025-10-08 13:15:25 UTC

Good communication system (networks need to connect and be aware of each other so can get together and not duplicate), support for artists who dont have time to attend, strong partnerships with health providers which are funded long term, recognition of benefits of cross-sector, community and inclusive working across the board.

2025-10-08 13:18:36 UTC

Provide a space for informal gathering, resources (or signposting, so many resources!) free training in H&W for yourself and others. Maybe facilitate f2f for those in same area.

From Heidi Wilson

2025-10-10 11:35:20 UTC

Opportunities: Wales: government policies align with dance-and-health i.e. Social Prescribing Framework (2024), Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act (2015) … BUT.. policy enactment is not straightforward – especially as a freelance dance artist.

From Heidi Wilson

2025-10-10 11:35:54 UTC

What do I need to thrive? A grasp of the shifting dance and health landscape – ecology and infrastructure. Who is doing what? Overlaps? Key posts (and more importantly, key people who ‘get it’ with whom to build partnerships over the longer term). A few doors to open would be nice …! Who to go to? Who can help me? How can I/we access funding? Who can advocate on my behalf (as I don’t have time or resources to do this effectively)?

From Heidi Wilson

2025-10-10 11:36:35 UTC

What can the network do/provide? See above and also gather research resources/ proof of efficacy in one place. Produce an A4 ‘brief’ which I can use with potential partners to ‘give them the facts’ about dance-and-heath with the People Dancing kite mark. Events, publications, CPD, space to discuss and ponder …

There are opportunities to bring holistic health benefits, healing, connection, community and joy to those we work with. And frankly, who isnt in need of this in the current context? The challenges are to be understood, to be taken seriously in what we as dance artists can offer and to have the resources put behind creative practitioners on the ground with the right support and infrastructure to embed their work in communities.

2025-10-21 10:27:58 UTC

Successful partnership working works brilliantly to ensure delivery of work with older people and people living with Parkinson's. I'd want that to continue and for that to be picked up in other areas. What we need is to shine a light on projects that are working well, to showcase what can be done with the right set up, resources and structure and to support excellent freelance artists to deliver across these projects rather than to be focussed upon survival.

2025-10-21 10:35:18 UTC

Learning and skills exchange to stay up to date with latest developments and best practise; input from health professionals, dance researchers and artists.

2025-10-21 10:37:29 UTC