Young Adults With Achondroplasia, Self-Esteem, and Wellbeing: Examining the Impact of Dance Sessions and Augmented Dance Sessions.

Background: Achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, is a lifelong condition, and impacted persons often face issues of health and wellbeing. For this cohort, the effectiveness of arts-based programs, such as dance or augmented dance sessions, needs to be studied. Methods: For this nonequivalent comparison group quasi-experimental study, the impacts of dance sessions and augmented dance sessions (comprising added spiritual content), both delivered online, on the self-esteem and wellbeing outcomes of young adults with achondroplasia were compared. Results: Participants of the augmented dance sessions reported significant improvements on self-esteem and wellbeing outcomes. The comparison cohort who did the dance sessions alone did not have any significant post-test outcome score changes. Gender, education, and program compliance were significant predictors of post-test outcome score changes of the intervention group. Discriminant analyses suggested that young adult females, those with higher formal education (postgraduate or vocational degrees) and whose program compliance was higher (>50% augmented dance sessions attended and corresponding homework sessions completed), gained most. Conclusions: With an added component of meditation, dance can be a creative community-based intervention that nurses may use in working with young adults with achondroplasia. Augmented dance sessions with added spiritual content are thus impactful for diverse participants.