Abstract
The Dance for Wellbeing Interview Guide is a specialized qualitative measurement tool developed by Suzanne J. Carroll, Michael J. Dale, and Kasia Bail (2023) to systematically explore how community-based dance class participation and subsequent public performance influence multifaceted perceptions of subjective wellbeing among individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Designed and implemented within an Australian metropolitan cohort across two specialized Dance for Wellbeing community programs, the instrument addresses a critical gap in neurodegenerative rehabilitation research: distinguishing the psychosocial, physical, and emotional impacts of standard weekly rehearsal from the transformative, visible act of public stage performance. The interview schedule comprises eight core semi-structured items accompanied by standardized follow-up probes designed to elicit comprehensive narratives regarding physical movement, psychological safety, bodily agency, social contribution, community belonging, and identity transformation.
Because the Dance for Wellbeing Interview Guide operates within a qualitative, phenomenological, and constructivist paradigm, traditional psychometric metrics such as quantitative reliability coefficients (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) or statistical structural equation models (e.g., confirmatory factor analysis) are not applicable. Instead, the guide achieves rigorous qualitative trustworthiness through adherence to Lincoln and Guba’s criteria for naturalistic inquiry, demonstrating high credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability via verbatim transcription, iterative thematic analysis, reflexivity protocols, and transparent researcher post-scripts. The guide serves as an essential framework for clinicians, dance movement therapists, and health researchers investigating arts-on-prescription, creative aging, and embodied interventions in progressive movement disorders.
Keywords
Parkinson’s Disease, Dance for Wellbeing, Public Performance, Subjective Wellbeing, Dance Movement Therapy, Arts-on-Prescription, Qualitative Interview Guide, Embodied Agency, Stigma Reduction, Neurorehabilitation
Authors
The Dance for Wellbeing Interview Guide was conceptualized, designed, and evaluated by an interdisciplinary team of clinical, nursing, and public health researchers at the University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia:
- Suzanne J. Carroll, PhD: Health Research Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia. Email: [email protected].
- Michael J. Dale, PhD: Health Research Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia. ORCID: 0000-0003-4285-1842.
- Kasia Bail, PhD, RN: School of Nursing, Midwifery and Public Health, and Ageing Research Group, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia. ORCID: 0000-0002-4797-0042.
Purpose
The primary clinical and scholarly purpose of the Dance for Wellbeing Interview Guide is to capture, delineate, and evaluate the subjective wellbeing impacts of arts-based physical activity interventions—specifically structured dance classes culminating in public performance—among individuals living with Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative condition characterized by motor impairments (including resting tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability) alongside debilitating non-motor symptoms such as depression, social anxiety, apathy, social isolation, and loss of embodied autonomy. While conventional neurological physical therapy protocols emphasize motor function preservation, gait mechanics, and fall prevention through repetitive functional exercises, they frequently neglect the psychosocial, creative, and identity-affirming dimensions essential to long-term quality of life.
Although evidence has established that creative dance can enhance balance, mobility, and cardiovascular health, the specific psychological phenomenon of transitioning from a private, protective classroom space to a public performance setting remains under-theorized. Standardized quantitative questionnaires—such as the Short Form 36 (SF-36), the Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), or the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS)—often fail to capture idiosyncratic lived experiences, emergent feelings of public empowerment, or the profound emotional shifts associated with artistic self-disclosure before an audience.
The Dance for Wellbeing Interview Guide was engineered to overcome these measurement limitations. It operates as an evaluative qualitative diagnostic and research instrument capable of exploring:
- How participants construct meaning around bodily intentionality when performing publicly despite noticeable motor tremors or motor fluctuations;
- The psychological divergence between safe group rehearsal and the heightened emotional vulnerability of performing in front of families, friends, and the general public;
- The re-negotiation of personal and social identity, shifting from a biomedicalized “patient identity” toward an empowered “artist or performer identity”;
- The socio-emotional mechanisms by which shared creative aesthetic experiences foster social cohesion, psychological safety, and collective pride.
Consequently, the instrument finds widespread utility in qualitative health research, program evaluations of community-based arts-in-health initiatives, occupational therapy and physical therapy outcome assessments, and gerontological studies investigating arts-on-prescription models.
Psychological Construct
The construct assessed by the Dance for Wellbeing Interview Guide is multidimensional subjective and embodied wellbeing situated within the context of arts-based neurorehabilitation. Rather than viewing wellbeing merely as the absence of depressive symptoms or the optimization of motor execution scores, the instrument operationalizes wellbeing as an integrative, dynamic, socio-emotional, and phenomenological state comprising several distinct yet overlapping dimensions:
1. Embodied Agency and Physical Mastery
This dimension encompasses an individual’s internal perception of bodily control, rhythmic coordination, and somatic capability. In progressive neurodegenerative disorders, the physical body is frequently experienced as uncooperative, unstable, or alienated. Through dance, participants reconnect with intentional movement patterns, experiencing the physical body not as a source of pathology, but as an expressive instrument of grace, rhythm, and agency.
2. Psychological Safety and Expressive Vulnerability
The construct captures the affective shift from private sanctuary to public disclosure. Within a dedicated dance group, psychological safety is established through peer empathy, mutual acceptance of neurological symptoms, and non-judgmental guidance. The interview guide specifically explores how this safety provides a stable platform allowing participants to engage in expressive vulnerability—taking calculated creative risks without fear of stigmatization or failure.
3. Public Visibility versus Concealment (Stigma Transformation)
Individuals with Parkinson’s disease often deploy significant cognitive and emotional effort to conceal tremors, dyskinesia, or freezing episodes to avoid public scrutiny and societal stigma. The construct measures how public performance reverses this dynamic. By stepping onto a stage—captured in the seminal paper’s titular quote, “Out and proud… in all your shaking glory”—participants actively challenge public preconceptions of disability, converting involuntary motor symptoms into authentic, celebrated components of artistic performance.
4. Social Relatedness and Communal Belonging
Aligned with Self-Determination Theory, this dimension assesses the deep relational bonds established between co-performers, choreographers, and support networks. It evaluates how synchronized artistic collaboration cultivates a profound sense of shared purpose, eradicating the loneliness and social isolation frequently associated with progressive disability.
5. Eudaimonic Purpose and Creative Self-Actualization
Moving beyond hedonic pleasure (feeling happy or having fun), the guide explores eudaimonic wellbeing: achieving a sense of personal growth, mastering complex choreography, fulfilling latent aspirations, contributing culturally to the broader community, and constructing an enduring narrative of personal resilience.
Theoretical Framework
The Dance for Wellbeing Interview Guide is anchored in a tripartite theoretical synthesis drawing upon Embodied Cognition and Somatics, Social Identity Theory, and The Social Model of Disability.
Embodied Cognition and Somatic Psychology
Traditional cognitive models separate mental processes from physical corporeal actions. In contrast, embodied cognition posits that the mind, affective states, and cognitive appraisals are deeply rooted in, and continuously shaped by, sensorimotor experiences. In neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease, deterioration of basal ganglia function disrupts both automatic movement and internal somatic self-image. Dance utilizes external auditory cues (music, rhythm) and visual-spatial navigation to bypass impaired internal basal ganglia pathways, activating alternative cerebellar-thalamic-cortical motor circuits. Somatic theory suggests that when an individual moves expressively to music, affective neural pathways are stimulated, facilitating emotional catharsis, mood enhancement, and an altered phenomenological perception of physical competence.
Social Identity Theory and De-Stigmatization
Under Henri Tajfel and John Turner’s Social Identity Theory, an individual’s self-concept is heavily dictated by group affiliations and the social valences attached to those groups. A clinical diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease often imposes an involuntary transition into a stigmatized, devalued social identity characterized by dependency, frailty, and chronic illness. The Dance for Wellbeing framework posits that regular participation in a creative ensemble fosters a new, highly valued social identity: that of a dancer and artistic performer. The public performance acts as a public validation ritual, wherein the audience’s applause and positive affirmations structurally dismantle negative social stereotypes, allowing participants to internalize a resilient, empowered social identity.
The Social Model of Disability and Transformative Performance
The social model of disability distinguishes between individual physical impairment (e.g., neurochemical dopamine depletion) and disability (the systemic social exclusion, marginalization, and environmental barriers imposed by society). Performance art functions as an emancipatory cultural intervention. By staging public performances that celebrate diverse motor expressions, the Dance for Wellbeing intervention challenges normative aesthetic standards that demand physical uniformity. The theoretical architecture of the interview guide directly reflects this socio-political model by asking participants how public visibility changes perceptions—both within themselves and within the broader community.
Validity
Because the Dance for Wellbeing Interview Guide is a qualitative phenomenological measurement schedule rather than a psychometric rating scale yielding numerical sums, quantitative validation procedures (e.g., convergent validity correlations with the Beck Depression Inventory or criterion-related predictive regressions) were not conducted by Carroll, Dale, and Bail (2023). In qualitative health paradigms, validity is operationalized through trustworthiness, conceptual authenticity, and interpretive validity, evaluated across several dimensions:
Content and Face Validity
Content validity was established through interdisciplinary expert design involving clinical academic researchers, specialized neurological nursing experts, and professional community dance instructors. The eight core items and associated probes were carefully calibrated to cover the complete spectrum of phenomenological inquiry—progressing logically from descriptive historical context (Item 1), to immediate affective response (Item 2), explicit wellbeing conceptualizations (Item 3), comparative contextual dynamics (Item 4), transformative impact (Item 5), perceived intrinsic value (Item 6), aesthetic salience (Item 7), and overarching personal meaning (Item 8).
Credibility (Internal Validity Equivalent)
In the primary validation study, credibility was established through prolonged field engagement across two distinct metropolitan dance studio sites. Data were gathered through extended, semi-structured, face-to-face qualitative interviews conducted in participants’ private homes or preferred environments. Verbatim transcription of audio recordings preserved linguistic authenticity. The study utilized rich, thick description—evidenced by extensive direct participant quotations in published findings—enabling peer reviewers and external researchers to audit whether the analytical categories and emergent themes directly mirrored participant expressions.
Confirmability and Reflexivity
To prevent researcher bias from contaminating participant narratives, the interview protocol mandated comprehensive post-interview field notes (demonstrated in the published “Interview Post Script – Interview 4”). The interviewer systematically logged methodological successes, environmental distractions (e.g., family interruptions, recording pauses), emergent analytical themes, and personal emotional reactions. This explicit reflexivity audit trail verified that emergent conceptualizations of wellbeing originated authentically from participant experiences rather than predetermined theoretical expectations.
Reliability
In psychometrics, reliability refers to score consistency, internal stability, and replicability across administrations (e.g., test-retest reliability, split-half coefficients). For a qualitative, open-ended interview guide, these statistical metrics are inapplicable. Instead, reliability is evaluated using the qualitative criteria of dependability and procedural consistency.
Standardized Semi-Structured Administration
Dependability was maximized through the standardization of the interview guide’s structural sequence. All participants were presented with the identical eight core stems in an invariable thematic order. Standardized follow-up cues (such as the comprehensive probing cue in Item 3 detailing psychological safety, community participation, and sense of self) ensured that across different interviewers and different participants, the conceptual parameters of “wellbeing” were explored with consistent breadth while preserving the open-ended nature of individual responses.
Auditability and Reflexive Documentation
The procedural dependability of the interview guide was reinforced through detailed documentation of interview lengths (e.g., standard sessions averaging 35 to 60 minutes), physical setting specifications, and participant operational status (e.g., confirming whether the respondent participated as a dancer with Parkinson’s, a family caregiver, or an instructor). By standardizing researcher debriefings and transcription standards, the study ensured that the administration of the instrument remains replicable across international research teams investigating arts-based interventions for chronic neurological conditions.
Factor Analysis
Statistical factor analytical procedures—such as Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Principal Component Analysis (PCA), or Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)—are quantitatively meaningless for qualitative text data and were not conducted for the Dance for Wellbeing Interview Guide. Instead, the latent thematic structure of the data generated by this tool was uncovered through rigorous Inductive Thematic Analysis following established qualitative methodologies (e.g., Braun and Clarke).
Through recursive coding of interview transcripts, the authors identified several foundational thematic clusters that mirror the structural design of the interview items:
- Theme 1: Somatic Liberation and Physical Capability (Originating from Items 1, 2, and 7): Transcending perceived physical limitations through musical entrainment, balance enhancement, and fluid choreographic sequencing.
- Theme 2: Relational Solidarity and Communal Kinship (Originating from Items 1b, 3, and 7): Developing a non-stigmatizing community of practice where tremors and motor blockages are normalized and met with mutual support.
- Theme 3: The Catharsis of Public Performance (Originating from Items 4, 5, and 6): The profound cognitive and emotional divergence between private studio classes and public performance, characterized by pre-stage anxiety transforming into post-performance euphoria, pride, and public validation.
- Theme 4: Reclaiming Identity and Challenging Social Narratives (Originating from Items 5, 6, and 8): A profound existential shift away from medicalized deficit narratives toward an affirmative public identity centered on artistic achievement, joy, and societal contribution.
Instrument / Measurement Tool
- Test Name: Dance for Wellbeing Interview Guide
- Authors: Suzanne J. Carroll, Michael J. Dale, and Kasia Bail
- Publication Year: 2023
- Test Type: Semi-Structured Qualitative Interview Schedule / Program Evaluation Guide
- Format: Open-ended qualitative inquiry featuring core open stems, standardized prompts, clarifying sub-questions, and researcher post-script documentation.
- Number of Items: 8 primary interview items with designated multi-part follow-up probes.
- Response Scale: Open-ended verbal narrative response. No numerical Likert scales, categorical checklists, or quantitative scoring sums are utilized.
- Target Population: Adults (aged 18 years and older) diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease participating in community-based dance programs with public performance elements; also adaptable for family caregivers, dance teachers, and allied health support staff.
- Administration Setting: Conducted in-person within a quiet, private setting (such as the participant’s home or a private consultation room) or via secure videoconferencing; sessions typically last between 30 and 60 minutes.
- Scoring and Data Analysis: Audio recordings are transcribed verbatim. Text data are subjected to inductive or deductive qualitative thematic analysis, phenomenological coding, or framework analysis using qualitative data software (e.g., NVivo, MAXQDA).
Permissions & Fee and Test Year
The Dance for Wellbeing Interview Guide was formulated and published in 2023 as part of academic research conducted at the University of Canberra. The initial empirical findings and methodological structure were published in Disability and Rehabilitation (Carroll, Dale, & Bail, 2023).
- Commercial Status: Non-commercial instrument.
- Fee: Free of charge for academic, non-commercial research, educational, and clinical evaluation purposes.
- Permissions: Researchers and clinicians seeking to employ, adapt, or translate the guide within structured clinical trials or community arts evaluations should cite the original publication in accordance with standard academic attribution practices. For institutional adaptations or commercial healthcare deployment, permissions should be coordinated through the corresponding author or the publisher (Taylor & Francis / Informa UK Limited).
- Correspondence Address: Dr. Suzanne J. Carroll, University of Canberra, Health Research Institute, 23B21, 11 Kirinari St, Bruce, ACT 2617, Australia. Email: [email protected].
References
- Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
- Carroll, S. J., Dale, M. J., & Bail, K. (2023). “Out and proud…. in all your shaking glory” the wellbeing impact of a dance program with public dance performance for people with Parkinson’s disease: A qualitative study. Disability and Rehabilitation: An International, Multidisciplinary Journal, 45(20), 3272–3283. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2022.2122598
- Earhart, G. M. (2009). Dance as a therapy for individuals with Parkinson disease. European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 45(2), 231–238.
- Houston, S., & McGill, A. (2013). A mixed-methods study into ballet for people living with Parkinson’s. Arts & Health: An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice, 5(2), 103–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2012.745580
- Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. SAGE Publications.
- McNeely, M. E., Mai, M. M., Duncan, R. P., & Earhart, G. M. (2015). Differential effects of tango versus dance for PD in Parkinson disease. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 7, 239. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2015.00239
- Shanahan, J., Morris, M. E., Bhriain, O. N., Saunders, J., & Clifford, A. M. (2015). Is dance a feasible intervention for people with Parkinson’s disease? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 23(4), 563–578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2015.06.001