Rhythms of Rehabilitation: Adaptive Dance as a Culturally Tailored Therapy for Filipino American Stroke Survivors

Background and/or Objectives: Filipino Americans (FAs) experience higher rates of stroke prevalence, post-stroke mortality, and severe stroke complications, particularly hemiplegia and spasticity, compared to other Asian American subgroups. Healthcare initiatives incorporating FA sociocultural values (e.g. pakikisama -togetherness; bayanihan - community) positively affect healthcare outcomes. However, there is limited literature on culturally specific post-stroke rehabilitation interventions for FAs, and the role of community-based services to mitigate these disparities. This pilot project aims to bridge this gap by developing a culturally tailored educational resource to teach post-stroke FAs about rehabilitation and functional recovery.

Design: Plan-Do-Study-Act study

Setting : Virtual, social media platform

Participants : Rehabilitation research team composed of two medical students and a PM&R physician

Interventions: Open-access educational resource modifying a popular cultural dance to teach FAs about post-stroke rehabilitation and functional recovery.

Main Outcome Measures: PubMed MEDLINE and Google Scholar were searched for peer-reviewed studies examining culturally tailored community interventions and educational programs for stroke rehabilitation in FA.

Results: Our research did not find evidence of culturally tailored community interventions or educational programs for stroke rehabilitation in the FA community, highlighting a need for resources. Our review indicates that general healthcare initiatives rooted in Filipino cultural values (spirituality, family, food, and cultural arts) led to improved patient outcomes, increased treatment adherence, and greater patient satisfaction. In particular, engagement in cultural dance led to improved motor function and increased community engagement. Based on this, we developed an educational exercise resource adapting a popular FA line dance to educate post-stroke FAs on hemiplegia and spasticity rehabilitation, physical therapy interventions, and stroke exercise guidelines. The exercise program is composed of a 20 minute routine implementing a seated adaptation for wheelchair users, with modifications available based on level of disability.

Conclusions: Culturally tailored adaptive dance programs are a novel and inexpensive non-pharmacologic intervention that can improve post-stroke rehabilitation adherence and patient satisfaction in FAs post-stroke.