Structured Water Dance Intervention (SWAN) for adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities: study protocol

Abstract

Background People with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) have a combination of severe intellectual disability, extensive physical impairment, sensory impairments and medical health problems. There is, however, a lack of evidence-based physical and health-promoting interventions for people with PIMD. Objective Structured Water Dance Intervention (SWAN) is a new method developed to fill this gap. This paper reports a protocol for an intervention study which aims to evaluate SWAN with regard to its effects on physiological, psychological and social health-related variables as well as its cost-effectiveness and potential for implementation in health care. Methods The evaluation of SWAN is performed in a multi-center randomized crossover study. Data is collected through cortisol measurement, physiological assessments, proxy ratings, video observations and interviews. Conclusions This is the first attempt to evaluate rigorously an innovative intervention for people with PIMD, a group that is rarely considered for health promotion interventions. This study will provide important information about the efficacy, cost-effectiveness and potential to implement SWAN in health care.

Navigating change – managers’ experience of implementation processes in disability health care: a qualitative study

“…We gathered a strategic sample by recruiting the managers from disability health care organizations participating in a structured water dance intervention study (SWAN) for adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. The intervention is described elsewhere [ 39 , 40 ]. The managers were recruited specifically to shed light on the phenomenon being studied.…”

The utility of goal attainment scaling in evaluating a structured water dance intervention for adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

“…This study is part of a larger research project of an aquatic intervention, SWAN (Lundqvist et al, 2020), which is a randomised multicentre study with a crossover design. GAS was applied as a measure of individual goal attainment along with other measurements in the evaluation of the proposed effects of SWAN.…”

“…Hydrotherapy, or other aquatic exercises in a warm pool, preferably at a rehabilitation centre or hospital, is one frequently requested activity for adults with PIMD (Mulligan and Polkinghorne, 2013). The structured water dance intervention (SWAN) is a new group activity adapted to adults with PIMD (Lundqvist et al, 2020) and is influenced by hydrotherapy and floor dance (Hagstr€ om et al, 2011). The SWAN intervention evaluates the effect on outcomes such as stress, wellbeing, hypertonia, pain, and social interaction in this target group.…”

“…The inclusion criteria for this study were being 18 years or older, having PIMD (according to (Nakken and Vlaskamp, 2007)) and having previous experience of interventions in warm water with no discomfort related to such activities (Lundqvist et al, 2020). The exclusion criteria were having severe hearing impairment (since hearing the music is a prerequisite for taking part in the intervention) and having infections or ulcers that would be infectious in the pool.…”

“…The SWAN (Lundqvist et al, 2020;Materne et al, 2021) was developed by combining the advantages of hydrotherapy (Geytenbeek, 2002) and floor dance (Hagstr€ om et al, 2011). SWAN is performed as a group activity for four to five adults with PIMD in a warm pool, led by two SWAN instructors.…”