The utility of a new method of movement therapy on responsiveness, movement, and emotional state in a psychogeriatric population: an exploratory study

Psychogeriatric patients are often physically inactive and in a state of social isolation. These conditions can lead to a decrease in physical and mental wellbeing. Physical exercise has a positive effect on health at all ages and can play an important role in preventing and treating cognitive decline in old age. The development of new methods in movement therapy can enrich the therapist’s toolbox and thus improve their ability to increase physical activity in patients. In this study, a new method of movement therapy—Beatube (https://www.beatube.com)—was examined. This method incorporates three key elements: (i) physical movement; (ii) rhythm; and (iii) interaction with another person via an intermediary object—specifically, two lightweight, 50-cm orange tubes that are held by each participant. Beatube sessions consist of a dynamic encounter between therapist and patient whereby the plastic tubes are tapped reciprocally against each other while participants move in space with rhythmical music. In some exercises, patients are asked to tap their own tubes one against the other. In other instances, patients are asked to tap their tube against the therapist’s tube. Participants do not make direct physical contact. The exercises are structured with graded levels of difficulty and usually elicit resilience and expressiveness. For the purposes of this study, the efficacy of Beatube was compared with qigong, an ancient Chinese system of body posture and movement training that is frequently used in geriatric settings. The researchers posed two main questions: (i) Can Beatube reduce subjective distress in psychogeriatric patients at least as well as qigong? (ii) Are patients as physically responsive during Beatube sessions as they are during qigong? There were 22 study participants (14 women, 8 men), all of whom were psychogeriatric patients at Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center (Jerusalem, Israel). All were inpatients in acute psychogeriatric units. Diagnoses of participants included depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Levels of cognitive function varied. Most participants were independently ambulatory, but three used a walker and one used a wheelchair. This study was approved by the Helsinki Commission of the Jerusalem Mental Health Center (request no. 3–19), which is affiliated with the Hadassah School of Medicine (Jerusalem, Israel). All patients in the psychogeriatric units were personally invited by the therapist to participate in this study. Participants or their guardians signed a consent form to participate in this study, which lasted for 3 months. Four main tools were used to assess participants in the study: • Subjective Units of Distress Scale, a self-report scale that assesses the subjective level of distress in a patient • a qualitative measure of physical movement quantified by an outside observer. The measure rates body movements, gestures, mirror and imitation movements, facial expressions, and touch. Based on the Social Responsiveness Scale, 6 this measure was developed for the purpose of the study to estimate patient’s responsiveness. • a computer software program that calculates the total amount of movement by each patient in each session recorded by a video camera. This software was developed based on an algorithm described by KaewTraKulPong and Bowden, and it was used as a quantitative measure of patients’ physical movement.