A Qualitative Investigation into Dance Students and Dance Teachers Perceptions of Social Support during the Rehabilitation Process after Sustaining a Chronic Injury. / Emily Allen (2020)

Topics such as injury and injury rehabilitation have been well established within a sports context but limited research exists within the dance community. What dance research does acknowledge, however, is the high prevalence of injury suggesting chronic injuries are common, if not inevitable within dance and the unique challenges that dancers face in terms of the injury and rehabilitation experiences. Psychosocial variables, including the effective provision of social support has been reported to have a positive impact on injury rehabilitation. Due to the absence of dance-specific literature, it could be said that dance research would benefit from the exploration of injury rehabilitation and social support within dance training environments and from different perspectives. Therefore, this study aims to gain a more holistic understanding of social support within a dance context by also investigating the perceptions of dance teachers.

The focus of this investigation, is to understand the provision of social support from both the perspectives of the dancer, experiencing the injury and teachers having worked with injured dancers. A qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews was used. Three dance students and four dance teachers, were interviewed. The dance participants’ interviews explored their experiences of injury rehabilitation, perceived social support, interaction with social support networks and coping strategies throughout the process. Dance teacher participants’ interviews were structured to focus on teaching experiences and the provision of and interaction with social support for the injured dancer.

Thematic analysis revealed the main messages in this investigation are the psychological impact of injury, support for the inured dancer and the accessibility of support networks. All three aspects are associated and influenced by one another, impacting on the effectiveness and perception of injury rehabilitation for the individual. The emotional response to injury was seen as mostly negative but the participants found positive insights and outcomes associated with the injury rehabilitation process. All participants identified multiple support networks including, teachers, university organisations, medical professionals, family and peers, of which they relied on for emotional, informational and tangible support. Both dance students and dance teachers, perceived a number of challenges with regards to accessing support, these were in relation to the specificity of support, access within the institution, finance and relationships.

The study’s findings indicate the need to educate individuals of social networks about their potential responsibility in promoting recovery which could be beneficial to assist injured dancers during their rehabilitation process. This may be useful to determine how institutions can provide services that benefit the way injuries are approached and managed and the content that is taught, in order to, alleviate the emotional distress students may experience in response to injury and assist dancers more positively and proactively during their injury rehabilitation process. Further research is necessary for a more holistic and comprehensive understanding into the provision, availability and benefits of social support within dance injury rehabilitation.