Exploring the Barriers and Facilitators to Physical Activity Behaviour in Older Adults With Intellectual Disabilities: Lessons From and for a Co-Design Study.
Use co-design to create modular, adaptable physical-activity programs—older adults with ID need individualized supports, not one-size-fits-all.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Adriaanse et al. (2026) sat down with six older adults who have intellectual disabilities.
The team asked what helps and what blocks them from moving more each day.
Together they built a first-draft activity plan that can snap apart like Lego bricks and be rebuilt for each person.
What they found
The adults said loud music, bright lights, or too many people can stop them from walking.
They said friendly staff, short indoor hall loops, and choice of music make moving fun.
The draft plan now has swap-in parts so you can add or drop pieces for each client.
How this fits with other research
Shih et al. (2012) used Wii Balance Boards to make walking pay off with instant lights and sounds.
Kim’s team keeps the payoff idea but drops the Wii, showing tech is optional; the fit is personal.
Kleinert et al. (2007) proved standard balance tests flop with severe ID; Kim echoes the fix—watch real life, not score sheets.
Robertson et al. (2013) got safe walking in Alzheimer’s with $20 doorbells; Kim adds co-design so clients pick the cue, not staff.
Why it matters
You no longer need one rigid walking program for every adult with ID.
Take the new list of barriers, ask your client which ones feel true, then plug in the matching Lego part.
Start small—maybe a hallway loop plus their favorite song—and let the client decide the next brick.
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Join Free →Ask your client to name one thing that makes walking hard and one thing that makes it fun, then build this week’s walking plan around those two answers.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) is one of the core components of healthy ageing. For older adults with intellectual disabilities (ID), PA is even more important because they often have a more sedentary and inactive lifestyle and more health problems than do older adults without ID. To promote PA, we explored personal and contextual barriers and facilitators to PA for this group. METHODS: We used a research-through-design approach with six older adults with ID in a specific care home facility. By applying co-design methods, older adults with ID, caregivers and other stakeholders were involved from the beginning in (1) listing barriers and facilitators, (2) exploring PA-promoting interventions and (3) adapting co-design methods to the target group. RESULTS: Our work resulted in a list of barriers and facilitators for the participants to perform PA, related to the personal characteristics of the participants, the provided PAs and the physical and social context. Further, a PA-stimulating intervention prototype and lessons learned regarding co-design with older adults with ID were developed. It became clear that a modular, adaptive intervention is necessary to accommodate the individual needs and wishes of older adults with ID. The same adaptive approach was required to meaningfully involve them in the research and design process. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with ID cannot be regarded as a homogeneous group, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution for promoting their PA. Basic components for an intervention can be provided, yet they always require adaptations to personal and contextual circumstances. The identified barriers and facilitators, intervention prototype and co-design lessons can provide guidance for creating tailored interventions.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2026 · doi:10.1111/jir.70094