Effectiveness of Dance Therapy on Cognitive, Behavioral and Emotional Development among Nursing Students in Selected Nursing College of Kamrup (Metro), Assam: A Cohort Study

Nursing, being a very noble profession in the health care system, plays a significant role in providing proper holistic care to the sick and support the community. And at present, the education should be holistic, integrated, enjoyable and engaging.Dance therapy, which is the psychotherapeutic use of movements for the purpose of improving health and well being may be one of the strategies for the cognitive, behavioural and emotional development for nursing students to provide quality nursing care. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of dance therapy on cognitive, behavioural and emotional development among nursing students of selected nursing colleges of Kamrup Metro, Assam among 20 BSc Nursing students who fulfilled the inclusion criteria Inventory checklist was used to assess effectiveness of the dance therapy and cohort study was used. Result: The highest mean after therapy was found in the 3rd post therapy evaluation which was found to be non-significant (p=0.144; F=1.950), 1st post therapy evaluation which was found to be significant ( p = 0.001; F= 13.499) and in the3rd post therapy evaluation which was found to be significant (p = 0.055; F=3.005) using repeated measure ANOVA for cognitive, behavioural and emotional respectively. The paired t- test comparison of cognitive, behavioural and emotional aspects with pre therapy evaluation was significant with the post therapy evaluation.The association of the 3rd post therapy evaluation score with the selected demographic variables was found to be significant with type of family (p= 0.043, df=1) and with hostel stay (p= 0.035, df =1 ) in cognitive and behavioural respectively. However it was non significant in emotional aspects with the selected demographic variables. Conclusion: Since the findings shows an improvement in the cognitive, emotional and behavioural development after the dance therapy, so it can be implemented in the education curriculum.