Family members and health care workers' perspectives on motivational factors of participation in physical activity for people with intellectual disability: A qualitative study.
Pack fun, mastery, peers, praise, and easy gear into every movement task.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Giesbers et al. (2020) asked family members and health-care workers what sparks exercise in people with intellectual disability.
They ran open interviews and grouped answers into themes. No numbers, just words.
What they found
Five ideas popped up: fun, mastery, friends, kind helpers, and gear that is easy to reach.
When these five line up, clients move more.
How this fits with other research
McGarty et al. (2018) asked only parents the same question and got the same list, so the new study widens the choir.
Faso et al. (2016) let adults with ID speak for themselves; they added "feeling happy" and "being independent" as reasons to move. The two studies snap together: outsiders see fun and mastery, insiders also want freedom.
Powers et al. (2021) showed caregivers control the clock and the car keys. Giesbers et al. (2020) agree: without helpful staff and open gyms, motivation dies on the couch.
Why it matters
You can boost exercise today by checking the five boxes: is the game fun, can the client win, are friends there, are you cheerful, is the gear ready? If any box is empty, fix it before the session starts.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: People with intellectual disabilities (ID) have lower levels of physical activity than the general population. The aim of this study was to understand the motivational factors of participation in physical activity for people with ID from the perspectives of the family members and staff. METHOD: An abductive qualitative design was used. Social Cognitive Theory constituted the theoretical frame of reference of the study. Two focus group interviews with health care workers and family members and two individual interviews with health care workers were conducted at their workplace. A thematic analysis was performed. RESULTS: Three main themes were identified. According to support persons, motivation could be promoted at the individual level by fun, mastery, social setting, technology and knowledge about health behaviours. At a contextual level, physical activity was mediated by engagement with support individuals and available resources. At an interactional level, individuals were more motivated if the interaction was featured by joint activities, predictability and the use of rewards. CONCLUSIONS: Motivation for participation in physical activity might be promoted at the individual, contextual and interactional levels. The interactions between individuals with ID and their support persons should work in a supportive way and strengthen mastery experiences. Support and engagement in the context could serve as a prerequisite for motivation and participation in physical activity and should be considered when developing interventions for physical activity for individuals with ID.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2020 · doi:10.1111/jir.12716