Cardiac patients are being encouraged to take a turn around a makeshift ballroom as part of their rehabilitation, while also offering jobless volunteers a route into work.

The Strictly dance project, which is due to run for 12 weeks, is very much a partnership, with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust’s (UHB) Cardiac Services providing a clinical lead.

Training for the scheme is given by UHB’s Learning Hub and Gateway Family Services, who also recruited the community volunteers and manage the project on a day-to-day basis.

The aim of the project, which operates on Tuesdays and Thursdays from Selly Oak Methodist Church Hall, is to train 30 unemployed volunteers to engage with patients around maintaining their rehabilitation after a cardiac episode.

Volunteers will have the opportunity to gain a qualification and have valuable work experience working alongside qualified nursing staff to put on their CV.

At the same time, patients will have the opportunity to exercise through dance in a fun way and hasten their recovery.

UHB’s Head of Regeneration, David Taylor, said: “This is a highly innovative project which involves cardiac outpatients being offered rehabilitation through dance, which older patients are more likely to take up.

“They are helped by volunteers - unemployed people who, apart from ‘befriending’, receive training in basic cardiac care, an induction to UHB and accredited learning.”

Kate Gee, Nurse Consultant, Cardiac Care, said: “We are working with volunteers to help them have a better chance of getting a job by improving their health skills. They can then take some of that coronary care knowledge back into their local communities.

“For the patients, there are obvious health benefits as well, so it is very much a win-win.”

The Strictly dance sessions commenced at the beginning of December and will resume after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Professional dance instruction is provided.

During the course of the free programme, participants will be asked to complete questionnaires to provide an idea of how they are doing.

For more information about the dance programme, and to enquire about booking a place, please contact Kate Gee:

Telephone: 0121 371 3518
Email: Kate.Gee@uhb.nhs.uk