Reducing the burden of care: Effect of art and dance therapy on Parkinson’s disease patients’ caregivers

While dance movement therapy (DMT) and art therapy (AT) have been found to improve Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients’ motor and non-motor symptoms, there is currently no research that addresses the effects of these therapies on PD caregivers. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the effect of art and dance therapy on PD caregivers. Twenty-seven PD patients and ten caregivers underwent either group AT, group DMT or co-group therapy (both group AT and group DMT combined in one session). In addition, all attended 10–12 sessions of group therapy. Nine patients also attended individual AT and DMT for at least 10 sessions. Patients completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-8 (PDQ8) and Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale-2 (PDSS-2) pre- and post-therapy sessions. HADS and Zarit Burden Interview scores were recorded for their caregivers. Patients’ anxiety, PDSS and PDQ8 were not significantly different post-intervention, but depression scores significantly improved in caregivers post-intervention. Additionally, depression in patients who attended the sessions with their caregivers improved significantly compared to those who attended alone. Thus, this study shows that art and dance therapy can improve depression scores amongst PD caregivers and PD patients who attend sessions with their caregivers.