[Adta] documenting movement data

[Danielle Fraenkel]

Dear Lora ,Christine, and list members,
I view documenting as an opportunity to educate staff. and anyone else 
who will be reading my notes. To do so, I integrate language that staff 
are accustomed to, language that dmts use, and include short phrases or 
even one sentence explanations when necessary. A few weeks ago, I did an 
assessment of a high functioning autistic, 12 year old. The report went 
to her parents, members of  her IEP committee, and her primary care 
physician. The mother called to thank me. She wanted me to know that 
she, her husband, and the IEP committee members had all commented on the 
accessibility of the report and the ways in which it deepened their 
understanding of dance/movement therapy -- so much so that they are 
looking to see if they can offer dmt to more of the children and 
adolescents in their school system.

I have had similar experiences at the partial hospitalization program 
for eating disorders for which I lead dmt groups for adolescents and 
adults. ( I have males as well as females in my ed groups.) To help 
staff understand the process, my notes always start with the session's 
theme(s). I write them in the language the staff uses and in the 
language I use to describe dance movement phenomena. As a result of my 
repetitive use of  dmt language, language that grows out of my approach 
to dmt, LivingDance, the team is developing a study to examine the 
relationship between some of the parameters I refer to in my dmt notes 
and outcome measures.

I believe that one key to working this way is to have a clear 
understanding of one's views on the theory and practice of 
dance/movement therapy. I, for example, am a firm believer in the 
healing inherent in dance movement itself. I value psychological 
explanations, but see them as secondary, as ways to support what the 
dance movement has already told us. My explanations grow out of what I 
know about dance, from the formal factors delineated in effort/shape and 
KMP, to phenomena that we, as dancers, know, e.g., tempo, muscle 
connection and muscle memory, breath, and the sense of the body as a 
whole. By using language over and over again, and being sure that we 
believe in the healing inherent in dance, we will educate staff and the 
public at large.

Another key to writing meaniggful documentation is to keep dancing 
ourselves--to stay in touch with the healing art that we work so hard to 
share with others. I  Israeli folk dance, swing dance, and improvise, 
alone and with friends, in my studio. I also write, take yoga classes, 
and knit, but it is the dancing that keeps my dmt sessions and 
documentation alive.

Dani Fraenkel,
_____________________________________________
Danielle L. Fraenkel, Ph.D., ADTR,  NCC, LCAT, LMHC
Director,
Kinections
at Imagine Square   http://www.kinections.com
718 University Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607
Tel: 585.473.5050
TEl & FAX: 585.442.8499







Christine Hopkins wrote:

> Hi Lora--
>  
> I'm responding to your message (pasted below) about documenting 
> movement data in charts. My dmt training (NYU grad school) and 
> experience in work settings indicates that using lay language is best, 
> since charts are read by nurses, doctors, physical therapists, social 
> workers, aides, etc.  I have found that staff are very appreciative of 
> simple and clear descriptive language about body movement data and 
> that it helps them observe movement data better also.
>  
> Hope this helps in your process of building how you want to include 
> movement data in charting at your facility.
>  
> Christine Hopkins
>  
> Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 01:03:59 +0000
> From: "Lora Wilson" <writelora at hotmail.com>
> Subject: [Adta] incorporating DMT parameters into hospital
> documentation
> To: adta at adta.org
> Message-ID: <BAY121-F9F30E5684FBBFB5FA293BA28F0 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
>
> Hello all.
>
> Wow! There has been so much written in the past few days on research and
> evidence-based data... I haven' had a chance yet to read everything 
> but I am
> looking forward to it greatly.
>
> On a related note, the psych hospital I am working at is in the 
> process of
> reformatting our "group participation logs."  I am technically part of 
> the
> Activity Therapy dept, along with a music therapist and two recreational
> therapists.  We are going to streamline and make one log for AT dept 
> and SS
> dept to use to chart on groups.  Both depts currently chart on the 
> following
> data:
>
> Thought Process/Cognition (e.g., focused,tangential, superficial 
> responses,
> disorganized, etc)
> Mood/Affect (e.g., agitated, anxious, depressed, congruent, manic etc)
> Participation Level (passive, dependent on prompts, active, resistant, 
> etc)
> Behaviors/Interactions (verbally abusive, oppositional, isolative,
> cooperative, etc)
> Goals
>
> ******
> I would very much like to officially incorporate movement based
> data/observations into the chart.  Of course, currently, I will chart
> movement observations in the notes, for example, "anxious as evidenced by
> pacing, psychomotor disturbances of hands, etc" but nothing beyond that.
>
> Have any of you officially incorporated movement data into your 
> charting? 
> Is it based on Laban, KMP or on more "generic" layman descriptions?  This
> may be my only shot at incorporating a dmt influenced change into this
> document (change is not easily accepted here.)
>
> Do you have any suggestions for me?
>
> Many thanks,
> Lora Wilson, MA, DTR
> Long Beach, CA
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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>

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